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 CHARLES WILLIAM WASON 
 COLLECTION 
 
 CHINA AND THE CHINESE 
 
 THE GIFT OF 
 
 CHARLES WILLIAM WASON 
 
 CLASS OF 1876 
 
 1918 
 
Cornell University Library 
 DS 709.C53 
 
 China against the world / 
 
 3 1924 023 219 755 
 
The original of tiiis book is in 
 the Cornell University Library. 
 
 There are no known copyright restrictions in 
 the United States on the use of the text. 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924023219755 
 
Price 25 Cents 
 
 CHINA 
 
 AGAINST THE 
 
 WORLD 
 
 Reprinted from 
 The North American Review 
 
 L — Causes of Anti-Foreign Feeling in China 
 IL — ^The Struggle for Reform in China - 
 III. — ^Missions and Missionaries in China 
 IV. — America's Treatment of the Chinese 
 v.— America's Duty in China - - - 
 
 George B. Smyth 
 
 - Charles Johnston 
 
 Poultney Bigelow 
 
 Charles F. Holder 
 
 John Barrett 
 
 NEW YORK: 
 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW PUBLISHING CO. 
 
(Reprinted from The North American Review) 
 
 Copyright, 1900, by the 
 North American Review Publishing. Company 
 
 All Rights Reserved 
 
CAUSES OF ANTI-FOREIGN FEELING IN CHINA. 
 
 BY GEOKGE B. SMYTH, PRESIDENT OF THE ANGLO-CHINESE COLLEGE, 
 
 l^OOCHOW. 
 
 What are the causes of the present anti-foreign outbnrst in 
 North China, and what are the reasons for the bitter anti-foreign 
 spirit which prevails throxighout the Empire, and which is kept 
 from springing into universal action only by the firmness of some 
 enlightened and far-seeing Viceroys ? I wish to answer both these 
 questions, and in the order in which I have here stated them; 
 though it would probably be more logical to answer the more 
 general question first, as the present situation is to a large extent 
 but a specially malignant outbreak of a disorder which infects the 
 whole Chinese system. Nevertheless, as the terrible crisis in 
 North China is the subject of more immediate interest, it will not 
 be inappropriate to consider it before taking up the larger subject 
 which the second question presents. In discussing these ques- 
 tions, my chief desire is to be entirely fair; and yet it may hap- 
 pen that some will think me too warm an advocate of the Chinese. 
 I shall, indeed, have to present the Chinese side, since no one can 
 justly viTite of the antagonism of China toward foreigners without 
 showing how large a share the foreigners themselves have had in 
 producing it. The subject is on that account not a pleasant one 
 for us of the West to think of; for, in studying it, we shall see 
 much to be ashamed of, and find that much of the prejudice 
 and hatred of Western men and Western institutions of which we 
 so bitterly complain in the Chinese is due to ourselves, to the way 
 in which we introduced ourselves among them, and to the way in 
 which we have often since treated them. ■ Western injustice 
 toward the Bast is the cause of much of the Eastern hatred of 
 the West. ' Nay, more, it will be seen that, when we were moved 
 by the purest and loftiest motives, we did not succeed in making 
 
CAUSES OF ANTI-FOREIGN FEELING IN CHINA. 
 
 ourselves welcome. Through ignorance or zeal or the coincidence 
 of unhappy accidents, our very benevolence has itself been mis- 
 understood and offensive. 
 
 The first question, as to the causes of the present anti-foreign 
 outbreak in North China, may be put in another form : Who are 
 the Boxers, and how and why have they become what they are ? 
 For these people are everywhere considered the cause of the 
 present disturbance, and the chief agents in its murderous crusade 
 against foreigners. 
 
 , The Boxers are a patriotic secret society; but, as in the case 
 lof all other such associations in China, their origin and history 
 are difficult to trace.' Though it is but a year since the society 
 'began to attract public attention by its depredations against for- 
 /eigners, it is said to have been in existence for several years. It 
 \ seems at first to have been partly an athletic association, and partly 
 la kind of mutual protective organization, for defense against the 
 [roving bands of robbers which sometimes infest the province of 
 ' Shan-timg; and it was called by the name which has since become 
 infamous, the "Eighteous Harmonious Fist," translated for brevity 
 - bj' the short and expressive word "Boxers.'' It is certain that it 
 showed no special hostility toward the native Christians, and gave 
 no trouble to missionaries or other foreigners. ' The question, 
 then, is how to account for the change which made of this society 
 of men, associated to oppose the lawlessness of freebooters, the 
 most cruel and blood-thirsty anti-foreign organization in the his- 
 tory of China. The reasons must be sought in the recent history 
 of Shan-tung, and they are not hard to discover. 
 
 Up to the fall of 1897, Shan-tung enjoyed an excellent reputa- 
 tion for its treatment of foreigners and native Christians ; indeed, 
 there were more Christians in that province than in any other in 
 the Empire, except Fuh-keen. On the 1st of November of that 
 year, however, there was a riot in which two German Catholic mis- 
 sionaries were brutally murdered, and Germany promptly seized 
 upon the crime as a pretext for what it had long contemplated, the 
 seizure of a portion of Chinese territory. On the 14th, Admiral 
 Diedrichs landed troops at Kiao Chow, and negotiations were en- 
 tered upon for the formal cession to Germany of that which she 
 had already seized. On the 6th of the following March, a treaty 
 was signed at Peking by which the country round about the Bay 
 of Kiao Chow, as far inland as the neighboring hills, was ceded 
 
THE NORTH AMEJRICAN REVIEW. 
 
 to the German Empire for ninety-nine years; the GoYernor of 
 Shan4]mg was dismissed^ix other high officials removed, an in- 
 demnity of 3,000 taels paid, and a promise made to build three 
 '■'expiatory'"' chapels. Germany obtained in addition a concession 
 for two railways in the province, and the right to open mines with- 
 in a region of territory twenty kilometres wide along them. These 
 were hard terms, but that which was most bitterly resented was 
 the seizure of territory. This high-handed act worked an 
 ominous change in the attitude of the people toward foreigners, 
 and especially Germans. It was not safe for Germans in small 
 companies to travel in the interior, and three who later unwisely 
 did so were attacked, though they fortunately escaped with their 
 lives. To punish the perpetrators of what the German Govern- 
 ment chose to consider another unprovoked crime, the commander 
 of Kiao Chow immediately sent troops to the scene of the attack, 
 and they burned down two villages. This harsh and indiscrim- 
 inate retaliation, in which innocent suffered as well as guilty, in- 
 flamed the people to madness, and many foreigners predicted 
 serious results. These were not long in coming. A bitter anti- 
 Christian, anti-foreign spirit showed itself throughout the prov- 
 ince, which was later intensified by the Imperial Decree of March 
 15th of last year, issued on the demand of France, conferring 
 practically official rank on Koman Catholic bishops and mission- 
 aries. The position of equality with Viceroys and Governors thus 
 given to the bishops, and equality with provincial treasurers, 
 provincial judges, taotais and prefects given to the various orders 
 of priests, together with the right of interview without the media- 
 tion of consul or minister, gave the Eoman Catholics an influence 
 of which the people had good reason to believe they would not be_ 
 slow to avail themselves. In lawsuits between their adherents and 
 non-Christian people, the latter had, or thought they had, no 
 chance ; and, as in other provinces, there was general complaint of 
 the constant interference of the priests in litigation. "^ 
 
 Enraged at the injustice thus perpetrated, seeing in the mis- 
 sionaries and the Germans the causes of the country's humiliation, 
 and in the conduct of the latter especially the beginning of an 
 attempt by the foreigners to seize the province and, finally, the 
 whole Empire, the Boxers began the series of crimes which have I 
 since made them infamous, preached a patriotic, anti- Christian, 
 anti-foreign propaganda, and resolved to drive from the country 
 
CAUSES OF ANTI-FOBEIGN FEELING IN CHINA. 
 
 the intruders, and all that they represented. They also made 
 claims to strange spiritual powers to influence the public. They 
 practised hypnotism, and the effects which they thus produced on 
 individuals awed the multitude into a belief in their possession of 
 mysterious, supernatural powers. It came in time to be believed 
 that they could make those who joined them impervious to the bul^ 
 lets of foreigners. The "Boxer spirit" movement, as it aceord- 
 inglj' came to be called, spread like wildfire, and led to frightful 
 excesses, the burning of churches, the slaughter of native Chris- 
 tians, the murder of missionaries. 
 
 Such, in brief outline, is the history of the rise of the Boxer 
 'movement in Shan-tung. But how did it come to spread till it 
 covered the whole province, invaded the metropolitan province of 
 Chi-li, took possession of the capital itself, and now holds within 
 its grasp the persons, alive or dead we know not, of the ministers 
 of the great Powers of the West? There is but one answer — by 
 the connivance of the officials, by the treachery of the Governor of 
 Shan-tung, acting under direct orders from the Empress Dowager 
 herself, fllad this wretched and cruel woman been so minded, and 
 had she so ordered, the movement could have been crushed long 
 before it became dangerous; but she refused even to attempt to 
 put it down, and degraded any official who was honest enough to 
 oppose it and protect the Christians and foreigners within his 
 jurisdiction. And all because she thought she saw in the strength 
 of the uprising, in its fierce, fanaticism, in its murderous hostility 
 to foreigners the means of accomplishing the most cherished am- 
 bition, both.of herself and of the bigoted crew of Manchu reaction- 
 aries who' surrounded her, the expulsion from China of all for- 
 eigners and of all the ideas, religious, social and political, which 
 foreigners represent. That this charge is not groundlessly made 
 is shown by the simple fact that Yuan-Shih-kai, the Governor of 
 Shan-tung, and his predecessor, Yu-Hsieu, under both of whom 
 the Boxer uprising has grown, were her own appointees, acting 
 under her immediate orders. The North China Herald, the best 
 informed and most ably edited foreign paper in China, in its issue 
 of June 6th, after showing how Governor Yu, because of his in- 
 tense hatred of foreigners and all Chinese who had anything to do 
 with them, gave open help and encouragement to the Boxers, for 
 which his dismissal was demanded by one of the foreign ministers, 
 says : 
 
THE NOUTH AMEBIOAN REVIEW. 
 
 "There can be no question about the Boxers having been encour- 
 aged by the government, because Tu Hsieu, their patron, after having 
 been recalled to Peking from Shan-tung, was specially honored by the 
 Empress Dowager, and given the Governorship of Shan-se. Tuan- 
 Shih-kai, the new Governor of Shan-tung, could easily have put down 
 the Boxers when he first went to Chinanfu, the provincial capital, but 
 he was not allowed to." 
 
 Who prevented him ? Who could have prevented him but the 
 Empress Dowager, to whom he owed his appointment, and whose 
 servant he was? These two men, Yu and Yuan, allowed the 
 fiendish work to go on, because she wished it ; at a word from her, 
 they would have crushed it. Again, the conduct of which she is 
 here accused is in complete accord with her course ever since, in 
 September of 1898, she deposed the unhappy Emperor for his too 
 zealous devotion to reform, and took the power of the throne into 
 her own hands. Since then, she has seized and beheaded six lead- 
 ei's of the Eeform party, banished many more, and dismissed from 
 office every official, not too powerful to be touched, who has shown 
 the least sympathy with the new order. Kang-Yu-Wei, the chief 
 adviser of the Emperor, and the head and front of the movement, 
 she has pursued with implacable vengeance; as recently as the 
 14th of last February, she offered a reward of a hundred thousand 
 taels for his capture, alive or dead. 
 
 That the Boxer outbreak has thus grown to its present terrible 
 proportions largely through her support, given both openly and in 
 secret, is not a matter of inference, but of positive knowledge. If, 
 as late cablegrams report, she has herself fallen a victim to its 
 fury, and has been made a prisoner in the palace, or been 
 poisoned, by the Boxer leader, Tsai-Yi, the Prince of Tuan, one of 
 her special favorites — a man to whom, by a decree of January 31st 
 last, she granted two extra steps in official rank and a eulogistic 
 tablet written by the imperial hand, and whom by a decree of the 
 7th of March she made Second President of the Imperial Clan 
 Court — it only shows how well her ministers have learned the 
 lesson which she taught them. The fury of even her hatred of 
 foreigners was too mild for some of her favorites. If she seems to 
 have shrunk from the horrors to which her own infamous course 
 has led, they shrink at nothing, not even at the attempted whole- 
 sale butchery of the foreign ministers themselves. But the guilt 
 of the movement, with its awful record of crimes, the widespread 
 destruction of property, the massacre of native Christians, the 
 
/ 
 
 GA USES OF ANTI-FOB.EIQN FEELING IN CHINA. 
 
 murders of foreigners, the whole terrible tragedy now being en- 
 acted in the North, is chiefly hers. 
 
 It is time now to consider the second question proposed at the 
 head of this article : What are the reasons for the bitter, anti- 
 foreign spirit which prevails throughout China? The subject is 
 particularly important, inasmuch as this feeling appears to be of 
 comparatively recent origin. The Chinese have not always shovm 
 the hostility to foreigners which so generally characterizes them 
 now. Colquhoun, in his "China in Transformation," says: 
 
 "Before the advent of the Manchus China maintained constant 
 relations with the countries of A^ia; traders from Arabia, Persia, and 
 India trafficked in Chinese ports and passed into the interior. The 
 tablet of Sian Fu shows that missionaries from the West were pro- 
 pagating the Christian religion in the eighth century; in the thirteenth, 
 Marco Polo was not only cordially received, but held office in the 
 Empire, and at that time the Christian religious ceremonies were 
 tolerated at Peking, where there was an Archbishop. To the close 
 of the last Chinese dynasty (1644), the Jesuit missionaries were well 
 received and treated at the capital; and, as Hue remarks, the first 
 Tartar Emperors merely tolerated what they found existing. This 
 would seem to show conclusively that the Chinese did not formerly 
 have the aversion to foreigners which Is usually assumed." 
 
 How are we to account for the change? No one cause pro- 
 duced it; it is the result of a cumulation of causes all working 
 toward the same end. 
 
 As the beginning of the change coincided in a general way with 
 the Manchu conquest, in the first half of the seventeenth century, 
 the first and most obvious explanation is that it is due, in part, 
 to the policy of the conquerors. This is the view taken by Hue in 
 his well-known book, "The Chinese Empire." He says : 
 
 / "The Manchoos were, on account of the smallness of their num- 
 / bers in the midst of this vast Empire, compelled to adopt stringent 
 I measures to preserve their conquest. For fear that foreigners should 
 I be tempted to snatch their prey from them, they have carefully closed 
 1 the ports of China against them, thinking thus to secure themselves 
 from ambitious attempts from without." ," 
 
 With the exception of the large-minded Kang-Hsi, the greatest 
 of all the Manchu sovereigns, this has been the general policy of 
 the present dynasty. No concession has ever been gained from it 
 except by force, or the threat of force. It has done everything in 
 its power to make friendly relations with the West impossible. It 
 was only in 1843 that the first ports. Canton, Amoy, Poochow, 
 Ningpo and Shanghai, were opened to commerce, and that after a 
 
THE NORTH AMEBIOAN REVIEW. 
 
 war in which China was worsted. The opening of ports in the 
 Yang-tsze Eiver was by way of indemnity for the murder of 
 Margary, a British consular oiKcer, in 1874. Others have been 
 opened as the result of diplomatic threats, and still others in con- 
 sequence of the war with Japan. It was by force, too, that China 
 was compelled to enter into diplomatic relations with Western 
 States. The right of their ministers to reside in Peking, and 
 freedom of residence and travel in the interior, both had to be 
 fought for, and were acknowledged only after defeat in war. The 
 Manchu Dynasty has given nothing which was not wrung from 
 it ; it has made no concessions of its own accord ; it has never taken 
 a single step toward putting its relations with foreign powers on a 
 footing of sincere friendship. And the policy of the rulers hag 
 been carried out by the Mandarins, most of whom have ceaselessly 
 striven to make foreign residence in China a painful experience, 
 and to embitter by every means in their power the relations be- 
 tween the foreigners and the people. The terrible situation in 
 North China to-day is but the natural result of this exclusive, 
 anti-foreign policy; the Manchus are making a last desperate 
 effort to expel the West and all that the West stands for from the 
 Empire. 
 
 In the changes which the ideas of foreigners, if allowed their 
 proper influence on the people, would effect, they see their own 
 destruction, and are fighting for that which for two centuries and 
 a half thej'' have exercised, the right to misrule and plunder the. 
 nation which they conquered. Unhappily, the people do not unr 
 derstand the facts, and centuries of precept and example have 
 taught them to feel for the foreigner part of the hatred with 
 which their rulers are drunk. 
 
 It would be fortunate if the Manchus alone were to blame for 
 the anti-foreign feeling of China. Unhappily, the foreigners 
 themselves have had a large share in creating it. The circum- 
 stances attending the jBrst introduction of Europeans to the 
 Chinese were such as to give that people the impression that thq 
 visitors were little better than pirates and murderers, and 'not a 
 little has occurred since to deepen that unhappy feeling. " Eapin e, 
 murde]%_and j^eonstant appeal to force," says Gorst, "chiefly char-, 
 acterized the commencement of Europe's commercial intercourse 
 with China." When the first Portuguese traders visited that 
 country in the sixteenth century, they were well received ; but they 
 
CA USES OF ANTI-FOREIGN FEELING IN CHINA. 
 
 were soon followed by a horde of unscmpulous adventurers, who 
 sometimes forced their way into the interior and committed high- 
 handed acts of piracy. So incensed were the Chinese at this 
 JViolence that, when Portugal, a few years later, sent an ambassa- 
 ;i dor to Peking, he was sent back to Canton, thrown there into 
 ■ ; prison and finally executed. 
 
 Still more deplorable was the impression made by the Span- 
 iards. After they seized the Philippine Islands in 1543, a great 
 expansion of trade with China resulted; and such large numbers 
 of Chinese settlers went there that in time they outnumbered the 
 Europeans in the proportion of twenty-five to one. The Spaniards 
 saw in this great influx of Chinese immigrants a menace to their 
 own sovereignty, and they massacred the larger part of the de- 
 fenceless and innocent Chinese.* The impression which such 
 savage butchery of its people made on their native province of 
 Canton may easily be imagined, and partly accounts both for the 
 reception which the English met with in the following century 
 when they first entered the Canton Eiver, and for the fact that 
 the people of that province are, with the exception of those of 
 Hu-nan, the most truculent haters of foreigners in China. 
 
 The early Dutch and English adventurers had also a share in 
 
 blackening the reputation of Europe in the East, and it is not 
 
 surprising that the Chinese came in time to look upon all Euro- 
 
 if'peans as barbarians, men whose only objects were robbery and war. 
 
 The period of unblushing barbarism came to an end at last, 
 and Europe set about entering into relations with China on the 
 principles of international law. But, even then, the claims made 
 to equality, however reasonable and just, gave great offense to the 
 Chinese Government and people. To understand this, it is neces- 
 sary to consider a peculiarity of Chinese civilization too often 
 overlooked — its age-long isolation. 
 
 The civilization of China is the development of its own na- 
 tional geniiis and life. Of no nation in the West can this be 
 affirmed. The countries of America and Europe have been so 
 closely related on terms of equality that the civilization of no one 
 of them can be said to be entirely its own. They have so acted 
 and reacted, one upon another, by physical force and moral and 
 intellectual influences, that the civilized life of each is the devel- 
 opment, not of its own national genius merely, but that modified 
 
 •See "China," by H. E. Gorst, pp. 202, 203. 
 
THE NOBTU AMERICAN REVIEW. 
 
 in many and various directions by the civilization of each of the 
 others. Vastly diiierent have been the conditions under vsrhich 
 the civilization of China has grown. With the exception of India, 
 to which she owes Buddhism, I do not know to what other country 
 she is indebted for anything. She has been surrounded by peoples 
 who, in all the great qualities of life, were vastly inferior to her. 
 She developed a splendid literature, an elaborate system of social 
 customs, a noble system of ethics, and they are all her own. Her 
 own, too, were some of the greatest inventions of man — gunpowder, 
 printing, and the mariner's compass. Beginning at a time which 
 antedates the birth of every other nation now living, she has 
 developed, with the exception already noted, her own national life, 
 learning nothing from her neighbors and teaching them all, the 
 quick, intelligent Japanese no less than the slo,w, phlegmatic 
 Corean. Such a history naturally taught her to look upon herself 
 as the first of nations; she was acknowledged as such by all the 
 nations around her. The inevitable result followed; she looked 
 upon all other countries as her inferiors. When, therefore, men 
 went to her from Europe, not only claiming equality, but profess- 
 ing to be able to teach her, it was a shock to the national pride 
 not easy for the -West to appreciate. It is not pleasant for a 
 people who have thought themselves the chosen of the world, and 
 who, it must be admitted, had, under the circumstances, some 
 reason for thinking so, to be summoned to sit at the feet of men 
 whom their peculiar history and recent experience had taught 
 them to look upon as barbarians. The claim to equality, then, 
 made by foreigners in their relations with China has been a cause 
 of offense, a fruitful source of antagonism. If it be said that 'the 
 claim was right, and that China has had time to learn the folly of 
 her conservatism and the madness of her intolerant national pride, 
 let it be remembered that the feelings of a nation do not easily 
 change, that the prejudices of centuries cannot be overcome by the 
 teachings of a decade. 
 
 Another source of friction and bitterness, this time with the 
 Mandarins, has been the attempt to enforce some of the commer- 
 cial clauses of the treaties, particularly those relating to the aboli- 
 tion of inland taxes on foreign goods. On such importations, be- 
 tween the port of entry and their destination in the interior, a 
 tax called "likin" is levied at various customs barriers on the 
 way. This is a serious burden on foreign trade, and it has been 
 
CAUSES OF ANTI-FOREIQN FEELING IN CHINA. 
 
 provided by treaty that imported goods shall be exempt from such 
 charges on payment at the port of entry of an extra sum equal to 
 half the regular import tariff. As the duty so levied would all 
 be paid to the Central Government, it follows that the local admin- 
 istration would thereby be deprived of a large part of its cus- 
 tomary revenues. Two results would ensue — difficulty in meeting 
 the expenses of the provincial governments, and a large curtail- 
 ment of the perquisites or "squeezes" of the officials. It is often, 
 indeed, claimed that the latter are simply robbery, and the cutting 
 off of this source of personal revenue from the Mandarins would 
 be an act of justice. But this is not entirely true. The salaries 
 of the officials are so miserably inadequate to meet their necessary 
 expenses that the officials are compelled to resort to various illegal 
 methods to add to them. That they do so excessively, "squeezing" 
 all that the business will allow, is but too true ; but that does not 
 alter the fact that the administrative system whose servants they 
 are forces them to the practice of illegal and dishonest expedients. 
 Before, therefore, the treaty clauses dealing with this subject can 
 be quietly enforced, such administrative changes must be made as 
 will remove from the provincial authorities their greatest tempta- 
 tion t6 robbery. Until this is done, and it will not be done with- 
 out pressure from without, there will remain a fruitful source of 
 official antagonism to foreigners, a cause of friction irritable alike 
 to Chinese Mandarins and to foreign officials and merchants. 
 
 Missions and missionaries, both Catholic and Protestant, have 
 also added to the causes of antagonism. I am aware that this is 
 denied by many of those who are interested in missions, but no 
 one will question it who is acquainted with the facts. It is not 
 wise to argue from the nobility of the missionary motive to its 
 ready appreciation by the Chinese people. The motive, so ap- 
 parent to us, is not equally apparent to them. They look at it 
 through a medium of unfortunate accompaniments of which we 
 never think. Apart altogether from the offense to the national 
 j)ride involved in undertaking to teach a faith claiming to be 
 higher than their own, the whole missionary movement is un- 
 happily associated with conquest, and its toleration is the result 
 of successful war. ISToble, therefore, though the motives of the 
 Christian Church are, its work is tainted by its association with 
 force and conquest. To thoughtful Chinese familiar with the 
 recent history of their country, the presence of the missionary in 
 
THE NORTH AMEBIGAN REVIEW. 
 
 every province, in country villages as well as in great cities, is a 
 reminder of the national humiliation. There are, indeed, excep- 
 tions; there are among the leading classes men who look upon 
 the Christian missionaries as China's best and only disinterested 
 friends, and the number of such is happily increasing; but for the 
 present at least the vast majority do not think so. 
 
 There are two things in missionary work which distinctly add 
 to the causes of irritation — one, the teaching itself ; the other, the 
 partly foreign, partly Chinese political status of those who accept 
 it. They are mistaken who suppose that, because of the excellence 
 of Christianity, it must lead only to peace and has nothing in it 
 to give occasion for offense. The preaching of it is not the in- 
 nocuous thing which it is sometimes considered. Like every high 
 moral force, when it confronts a lower, conflict is inevitable. The 
 instinct of self-preservation compels the adherents of the old faith 
 to fight for its existence. Christianity not only creates, it also 
 destroys ; it sets up new beliefs, new ideals, new standards of eon- 
 duct, a new object of worship, but it pulls down the old. This is 
 its necessary record everywhere else; it is its record in China. 
 
 In religious matters, the Chinese are among the most tolerant 
 of men; but in their case Christianity is opposed to a practice 
 which has prevailed from the very beginning of their history, on 
 which they think the whole fabric of society is based. The opposi- 
 tion of Christianity to ancestral worship is what ofliends the 
 Chinese most, for they consider it an attack on the most sacred 
 of obligations, on the very foundation of society itself. Missiona- 
 xies are aware of this, and most of them are scrupulously careful 
 in speaking of it. I have heard many sermons and addresses by 
 them in the seventeen years which I have spent in China, but 
 never one in which the ancestral cult was spoken of offensively. 
 But, while speaking tenderly, the opposition to it is there; the 
 churches have adopted toward it a position of uncompromising 
 hostility, and the people know it. Here lies one of the chief 
 sources of popular hostility to foreigners, and there is no way of 
 avoiding it, unless the policy of toleration be adopted which was 
 followed by the early Jesuits. But, as this was rejected by the 
 Catholics themselves on command of the Pope, it is not likely to 
 be adopted by them again, and it certainly never will be by the 
 Protestants. What, then, is to be done? The thoughtless, igno- 
 rant whereof they speak, will say : "Withdraw, rather than con- 
 
CA USES OF ANTI-FOBEIQN FEELING IN CHINA. 
 
 tinue an enterprise so provocative of hostility." But this is im- 
 possible. The Christian Church must preach Christianity. To 
 ask it to reject its missionary commission is to ask it to commit 
 suicide. No nation has ever yet been Christianized without con- 
 flict, and no nation ever will be. Nevertheless, it is unwise not 
 tc recognize in the preaching of the new faith a source of antago- 
 nism, and it is unjust to censure the Chinese too severely for their 
 opposition to what they do not clearly understand, to a process 
 which they regard as destructive of the fundamental principles of 
 their national life. With the years will come knowledge, but it 
 will come only after opposition and strife. 
 
 Two lessons, at least, may be learned from this, namely, the 
 tremendous responsibility which our Missionary Societies incur in 
 sending missionaries to China, and the solemn obligation under 
 which such responsibility puts them to send to that distant, diffi- 
 cult and dangerous field only the choicest men and women they 
 can find. There is no service for which the selection of candi- 
 dates should be so carefully made. The ordinary qualifications are 
 not sufficient. Zeal alone will not do. Besides the passion for 
 humanity, of which every missionary should be possessed, he 
 should have in addition the great virtues of intellectual sympathy, 
 the power of appreciating another's position, the ability to see the 
 truth where it exists, and tact which is unfailing. With such 
 qualities as these, the missionaries may hope in time to overcome 
 prejudice, make their position clear, and win an acceptance for 
 the great message which they preach. In that message only is 
 China's salvation, for in it alone are the promise and the power to 
 effect the moral regeneration which is her supreme need. 
 
 Another cause of bitterness in connection with missionary 
 work js found in the peculiar political status of the native converts, 
 , and the immunity from various exactions which the treaties guar- 
 antee them. It is often asserted by opponents of missionaries that 
 they are constantly interfering with the ordinary judicial processes 
 of the country, saving their converts from the payment of taxes, 
 and calling upon Consuls and Ministers, irrespective of treaty 
 provisions, to interpose in their behalf. All these charges are 
 untrue, so far, at least, as Protestant missionaries are concerned. 
 Mistakes are sometimes made, but no men are more scrupulous 
 than they in their observance of the laws of the land. Neverthe- 
 less, there are real sources of irritation in this connection which 
 
 VOL. CLXXI NO. 525 13 
 
THE NORTH AMEBIOAN BEVIEW. 
 
 cannot be denied. The clauses of the treaties which guarantee 
 religious liberty to Chi nese c onverts have usually been interpreted 
 to mean that they shall not be persecuted for religion's sake, and, 
 specificaTly,~EEat thej^ shall not be compelled to contribute to the 
 mamtenafice" o7 idol iem"pTes,_ or toward paying the expehses_of 
 indrprdcessionsr Under these heads, many cases are taken by the 
 missionaries to the Consuls, who then refer them to the Chinese 
 ofBcials. Unfortunately, it sometimes turns out on investigation 
 that the cases do not come within the treaty limits at all, but are 
 old troubles, or even new ones, which the Christian complainants 
 persuaded the missionary were instances of religious persecution. 
 The embarrassment of such a discovery is painful, painful to the 
 missionary who was deceived, to the Consul who took the case up, 
 and to the Chinese Magistrate who tried it. Worse than all is the 
 effect in the village where the parties to the trouble reside, where 
 the Christian is accused of trying to use his relation to the foreign- 
 ers to crush his neighbors. The resulting irritation and prejudice 
 are lamentable in the extreme. 
 
 Even when the cases are genuine, and the Christians are de- 
 clared by the Magistrate exempt from the exactions referred to, 
 there are two parties offended ; the people are angry because some 
 of their neighbors are saved by foreign influence from a pressure 
 which they themselves have to submit to and which becomes 
 heavier in proportion as the Christians are relieved from it; and 
 the Magistrate is humiliated because at the demand of a foreign 
 official he has to give judgment against the wishes of a majority of 
 his own people. Here, therefore, is another widespread source 
 of popular irritation. But how is it to be avoided ? The question 
 is too complicated to be discussed here. Some would withdraw 
 ■Consular protection altogether and leave the converts entirely to 
 the laws of the land. In that case, fairness would demand that 
 the missionaries be treated in the same way and be subject to the 
 same laws. But no class of foreigners in China can be left with- 
 out protection without endangering the interests, if not the lives, 
 of all. Deny the protection of their country to missionaries, and 
 all other foreigners will speedily find that the protection promised 
 them will be of little avail. The problem is one for statesmen, the 
 thing I wish to note being simply that the peculiar position of 
 converts, the privileges and immunities they enjoy, are among the 
 causes of the antagonism which the Chinese entertain toward 
 
OA USES OF ANTI-FOREIGN FEELING IN CHINA. 
 
 foreigners. These observations are made in no spirit of criticism, 
 but with a sincere desire to draw the attention of the missionary 
 authorities and the Christian public to the facts, in order that the 
 subject may be thoroughly studied, and such regulations be 
 adopted, if possible, as will lessen the area of friction and reduce 
 the number of the causes of trouble. 
 
 In addition to all this, missionaries are often thought of as 
 spies of their own governments; and by some of those who are 
 familiar with the history of other parts of Asia, the fate of India 
 is feared for^their country. Many a time have I been asked what 
 my Government paid me for coming to China, and when I an- 
 swered, "Nothing," and showed that I had no connection with the 
 Government whatever, my reply was evidently received with no 
 little incredulity. (Again, in the minds of many, the whole mis- 
 sionary movement is suspected because of the striking contrast 
 between its professed aim and the conduct of some Christian 
 governments toward China.' And surely this cannot be wondered 
 at. /With Western missonaries preaching peace and Western gov- 
 emrdents practicing murder, it should not surprise us if the 
 Chinese suspect the former as much as they fear the latter] You 
 cannot go to a people with the Bible in one hand and a bludgeon 
 in the other, and expect that they will accept either cheerfully.) 
 
 Some European governments have been guilty, even in recent 
 times, of the most atrocious conduct toward China. In 1884, a 
 French fleet entered the Mia Eiver and anchored ten miles below 
 the great city of Foochow, in Southeastern China, to frighten the 
 government at Peking into paying an indemnity demanded by 
 the French Minister for alleged guilty complicity in helping the 
 people of Tonquin in their fight against the seizure of their coun- 
 try by France. When he failed, the case was given over to the 
 Admiral, the French ships opened fire, and in less than an hour 
 the Chinese fleet, with the exception of one ship, was destroyed 
 and over 3,000 Chinese killed, and all without a declaration of 
 war. The bodies of the dead floated out to sea on the tide, many 
 of them were borne back on the returning current, and for days 
 it was hardly possible to cross the river anywhere between the 
 anchorage and the sea twenty miles below without seeing some of 
 these dreadful reminders of French treachery and brutality. The 
 people of the city were roused to fury, and the foreigners would 
 have been attacked but for the presence of American and English 
 
THE NORTH AMEBIOAN REVIEW. 
 
 gunboats anchored off the settlement to protect them. If some 
 of us had been killed the world would have rung with denuncia- 
 tion of Chinese cruelty, but the .3,201} victims of French guns 
 would never have been thought of. 
 
 Two years ago the French perpetrated an equally atrocious 
 outrage at Shanghai. Wishing to enlarge their settlement, they 
 desired to obtain possession of a large rest house for the dead 
 which belonged to the people of Ningpo. Failing in negotiations, 
 the French Consul proceeded to tear down the surrounding walls. 
 The people opposed; marines were landed from a French cruiser 
 in the river; they fired on the crowd and killed twenty. The 
 people of other nationalities at Shanghai prepared to defend them- 
 selves, but they all knew that any riots, if riots occurred, should be 
 laid to the injustice and brutality of France. 
 
 The burning down of villages in Shan-tung by the Germans,! 
 to which I have already referred, was an act of the samei character. 
 
 All these instances of the cruel use of force by foreigners were 
 heralded far and wide by the Chinese newspapers, and the impresv 
 sion made on the people it is not hard to imagine. These papers \ 
 have also made the reading public aware of the deprivations of 
 territory recently suffered by China, and of the cool discussions 
 of the dismemberment of the Empire indulged in by the foreign 
 press. No wonder the people were humiliated and angry. Many 
 a time have I been asked by thoughtful and patriotic Chinese 
 when the end would come and China cease to be an independent 
 State. All her finest harbors have already been taken ; there is 
 not a place on her coast where her fleet can rendezvous, except 
 by the grace of foreigners. Port Arthur, a fortified harbor, on 
 which millions were spent, has been leased to Russia; Wei-Hai- 
 Wei, with its fortifications, on the coast of Shan-tung, to England ; 
 Kiao Chow, also in Shan-tung, with the finest bay on the coast of 
 China, large enough to accommodate the fleets of the world, to 
 Germany ; and Kwang-Chau bay, on the southern coast of Kwang- 
 tung, to France. There would be some justification for these 
 seizures — for seizures they are, though called only "leases" — if 
 they had been made in retaliation for broken pledges, for crimes 
 for which the government was responsible; but every one knows 
 that, with the apparent exception of Kiao Chow, and the exception 
 is apparent only, they are all due to the mutual fears and mutual 
 jealousies of foreign States. The sovereignty of China over her 
 
OA USES OF ANTLFOREiaN FEELING IN CHINA. 
 
 own domain is not recognized ; he who is strong enough may take 
 //what he pleaseS;, and his neighbor, lest the balance of power be 
 broken, may go and do the same. That under such circumstances 
 the wrath of the people is aroused is no matter for wonder. The 
 West cannot sow the wind in the East without having later to 
 /' meet the terrible necessity of reaping the whirlwind. 
 
 I have tried to give a fair analysis of the causes of the anti- 
 foreign feeling which prevails in China. It is not complete; there 
 are other causes which might be mentioned. But I have given 
 those which are most important, those which concern us most. It 
 must be evident, I think, after studying them, that the antagonism 
 of Chinese to foreigners is not altogether groundless; that for- 
 eigners themselves have had a large share in creating it. I trust 
 that when the present fierce uprising is put down, when peace is 
 restored to the distracted Empire, and the time for the settlement 
 of claims has come, this painful fact will not be forgotten. 
 
 Geoege B. Smyth. 
 
THE STRUGGLE FOR REFORM IN CHINA. 
 
 BY CHARLES JOHNSTON^ BENGAL CIVIL SERVICE (eETIRED). 
 
 Signs are not wanting that we are on the eve of another 
 political convulsion in China, a violent reaction from the masterly 
 and masterful intervention of the Dowager-Empress. The forces 
 which have been swa5dng China this way and that for the last 
 generation are still actively at work; while time is surely if slowly 
 wearing away the barrier which has kept the flowing tide in 
 check. 
 
 Many writers, in a glow of controversial zeal, were led to 
 represent the palace revolution as the visible evidence of an occult 
 struggle between Kussia and England for the sovereignty of the 
 Far East; and, considering the forced retirement of the Em- 
 peror Kuang-Hsu a victory for the Eussian party, they confidently 
 jiredicted a speedy countercheck from Great Britain, and exulted 
 over it in advance as a victory for progress, enterprise and a 
 liigher phase of civilization. 
 
 In reality, the revolution in Pekin had nothing whatever to do 
 with either Eussia or England. It happened that one of the 
 chiefs on the side of the Dowager-Empress, the venerable Li Hung 
 Chang, was a firm friend of Eussia, and this gave color to the 
 partisan view ; but it might Just as well have been the other way. 
 The watershed of the Chinese movement, so to speak, is a question 
 of internal policy alone. 
 
 There are, in fact, two parties in China, one extremely radical ' 
 and the other extremely conservative. The former is the party 
 of the Emperor Kuang-Hsu; the latter is the party of the 
 Dowager-Empress Tshu-Chsi. The Conservatives, under the lead 
 of this remarkable woman, aspire to keep China as far as possible 
 a forbidden land, a second Tibet, governed on traditional and 
 theocratic lines. The Eadicals, on the other hand, desire to see 
 
THB NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW. 
 China follow the lead of Japan, and put on the whole armor of 
 civilization, as we understand it in Europe and America. 
 
 But the Conservatives are in sympathy with Russia only to a 
 very limited extent; it is, with them, a sympathy of tradition 
 rather than of policy, for the relations between Eussia and China 
 go back to the Middle Ages. They regard Eussia as a friendly 
 Asiatic despotism, and hardly as a European country at all. 
 
 The Eadicals, on the other hand, have no particular sym- 
 pathy with England. It is, indeed, one of the elements of their 
 policy to foster closer relations with Japan, in order that China 
 and Japan together may be able to stand independently as a great 
 Asiatic power, throwing off the yoke of European, and especially 
 of English, interference. 
 
 In truth, the questions which divide these two parties in China 
 are much more serious and profound than one would be led to 
 believe from reading the accounts of the critics and chroniclers of 
 our press. They have a way of leaping to conclusions, which 
 'shows a great deal of courage, it is true, but, on the other hand, a 
 great ignorance of the Oriental world, and of the thoughts and 
 feelings of Oriental peoples. 
 
 It is taken as axiomatic, for example, that a theocratic gov- 
 ernment is something wholly out of place in the modem world; 
 an exploded superstition of a by-gone age ; something quite out of 
 keeping with modern ideas and modern life. But Germany, and 
 indeed every monarchical country, is in principle a theocracy ; for 
 the kingship is founded on divine right; and the fact that the 
 coronation is a religious ceremony shows that the divine sanction 
 is still conceived as aiithorizing the Emperor to rule. Eussia, 
 where the Emperor himself sets the crown upon his head, is even 
 more directly theocratic; the ruler draws his right dii'ect from 
 heaven, without the interposition of the Church. But every 
 monarchy is in principle a theocracy, just as every aristocracy 
 admits the principle of ancestor-worship. 
 
 So that there is nothing essentially incompatible with Western 
 ideas in even the extreme ideals of the Chinese Conservatives. 
 And, as far as they believe in adhering to the traditional and 
 native forms of Chinese life, and, incidentally, of Chinese arts 
 and handicrafts, there is much to be said for them, too ; for these 
 are the forms of life which they have developed for themselves 
 during generations, and even now their arts and crafts are in 
 
THE STRUGGLE FOB REFORM IM CHINA. 
 
 many things so superior to ours that we buy as ornaments things I 
 which they destined simply for common use. In Europe the very 
 latest ideal in arts and crafts is the introduction of the personal 
 and creative element in all workmanship as against machinery. 
 But this was the ideal of China and Japan from the outset. Every 
 Japanese and Chinese artisan is an artist, and in this they are a 
 century ahead of their Western critics. 
 
 So that one may easily make out a very strong general case for 
 the Conservatives in China. And, when this has been done, it 
 becomes doubly interesting to apply the same process in detail, 
 and to inquire what precisely were the innovations which the Em- 
 peror Kuang-Hsu sought to introduce, and why this attempt was 
 so completely frustrated. 
 
 First, a word about the Emperor himself. Kuang-Hsu is an 
 imperial title, meaning "Enduring Majesty;" the prince's per- 
 sonal name is Teai-Tsien. He is only twenty-seven years old, 
 though he has borne the title of Emperor ever since the death of 
 his cousin, the Emperor Chai-Chin, five and twenty years ago, 
 and has been sole responsible ruler, in theory at least, for the last 
 nine years. The Emperor Kuang-Hsu is slight and delicate, 
 almost childish in appearance, of pale olive complexion, and with 
 great, melancholy eyes. There is a gentleness in his expression 
 that speaks rather of dreaming than of the power to turn dreams 
 into acts. It is strange to find a personality so ethereal among 
 the descendants of the Mongol hordes; yet the Emperor Kuang- 
 Hsu might sit as a model for some Oriental saint on the 
 threshold of the highest beatitude. Though it is eleven years since 
 his marriage with Princess Eho-na-la, the Emperor is childless. 
 
 It is not so long since the nobles of our most civilized Western 
 lands counted it a vice to vnrite well, and slept on rushes in their 
 torch-lit, wooden halls. Their ideals were war and hunting, with 
 bows and arrows, for the most part, with legalized plundering of 
 the agricultural population to renew their supplies of bread. In 
 those days China was far more civilized than any European coun- 
 try; and, in the life of the Chinese Empire, that period is only 
 as yesterday. The two things which have done most to change 
 the relative positions of East and West are gunpowder and print- 
 ing, yet both of these have been kno\vn in China for ages. So 
 that any inherent superiority on the part of the West is rather a 
 pleasing fiction; much might be said in the contrary sense. The 
 
THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW. 
 
 West is superior in combative and destructive elements — the very 
 things wliich the religion of the West has been trying to eradicate 
 for two thousand years; so that, even from a Western point of 
 view, Europe's material victory is a moral defeat. 
 
 Yet it is none the less true that China has been overshadowed 
 and left behind by the Western nations, and the recognition of 
 this fact is the starting point of the Emperor's policy. 
 
 He conceives the remedy to be an infusion of new life into the 
 education of the people; a supersession of the wonderful system 
 of intellectual training, perfected centuries ago, which forms all 
 minds alike on the great Chinese Classics, "the best that has been 
 thought and said" in the Celestial Land. It is the battle of 
 utility against culture fought out once more on Chinese lines. 
 Chemistry and physics, engineering and military science are to 
 take the place of essays and poems exquisitely fashioned after 
 ancient models, now the sole test of talent throughout the Em- 
 pire, and perfection in which is the royal road to fame and 
 fortune. 
 
 It is hard to tell which we should most admire, the genuine 
 enthusiasm of all China for literary culture, for familiarity with 
 the highest thoughts and noblest words of the sages, or the 
 marvellous ingenuity and precision with which this knowledge is 
 tested by a system of examinations hardly equalled, and never sur- 
 passed, by any nation in the world — the vast halls, with their 
 cloister-like divisions for ten thousand candidates ; the seals set on 
 the doors before the papers are given out; the counted sheets of 
 stamped paper with name and number for the essays and poems 
 of each candidate; the army of clerks copying the themes in red 
 ink, lest any personal sign or mark should lead the examiner to 
 recognize a favored pupil; the enthusiastic crowds gathering at 
 the doors; the cannons and music which greet the candidates 
 first to come forth; the literary chancellor ceremoniously pre- 
 siding ; the lists of the successful eagerly bought up in the streets ; 
 the chosen essays and poems sent to Court for the delectation of 
 the Emperor; the gold-buttoned caps and blue silk gowns of the 
 graduates; and, lastly, the almost pathetic provision that who- 
 ever continues without success to try for any degree until his 
 eightieth year shall receive it free, from the Emperor himself, as 
 a reward for faithful love of learning. 
 
 By the way, we should keep some of our admiration for the 
 
THE STRUGGLE FOB REFORM IN CHINA. 
 
 more than human ingenuity with which the Chinese students 
 sometimes evade even the strictest precautions : the tunnels dug 
 beneath the examination halls, through which surreptitious 
 knowledge is passed up to the candidates, written minutely on the 
 finest paper; the offices where needy and brilliant essayists are 
 hired to personate dull, wealthy scholars; the refinement of 
 knavery that decrees that, while the rank of the examination to be 
 compounded for rises in arithmetical progression, the bribe in- 
 creases in geometrical ratio. All this but shows, by crooked ways, 
 how highly learning is esteemed. 
 
 Yet all this, while it reminds us how foolish we are to think 
 of Chinamen as uncivilized, is not enough to win the battles of the 
 world. Therefore, the Emperor Kuang-Hsu deemed it necessary 
 to decree reform and the introduction of the utilitarian spirit. 
 Pekin is to have a University, as a rallying point for the modem, 
 spirit; and here a characteristic note of Chinese radicalism is 
 struck; for the methods and standards of this first Chinese Uni- 
 versity are to be taken not directly from Europe, but. mediately 
 through Japan. It is conceived that Western ideals will then 
 have undergone a process of partial assimilation and amelioration, 
 making them more immediately suitable for the Chinese mind. 
 In other words, it is held that the Japanese have already improved 
 the culture they received from Europe, and that the Chinese, 
 following in their steps, will improve it still further. 
 
 This drawing together of China and Japan is one of the key- 
 notes of the radical programme of the Emperor Kuang-Hsu. 
 "China and Japan," says a recent edict, "have a common lan- 
 guage, they belong to the same race, they have all interests in 
 common." 
 
 So a band of students are to set out from the Celestial Empire 
 to the Flowery Land, as guests of the Japanese nation, there to 
 absorb the light which they are presently to radiate, as teachers, 
 in their own land. Two hundred are to go, as a beginning, and 
 they are already being chosen among those who have some 
 knowledge of Japanese. And before they return, if Kuang-Hsu's 
 programme is carried out, Pekin will have, besides her University, 
 a whole system of primary and intermediate schools, and this 
 system, modelled on the best Western plans, will gradually be 
 extended to every considerable city of the Empire. 
 
 The University of Tokio, which is held to be the high-water 
 
 VOL. CLXXI NO. 624. 2 
 
THE NOBTR AMEBIGAN REVIEW. 
 mark of blended European and Japanese culture, is to serve as 
 the model for the Pekin Institution, and temporary quarters have 
 been assigned to the teachers in the princely palaces of the capital, 
 pending the erection of suitable University buildings. Meanwhile, 
 the sum originally allotted to the Committee on Education has 
 been increased threefold, by a special Imperial edict, and the sum 
 set aside for the maintenance of the committee has been doubled. 
 The thoroughly practical spirit pervading this new educational 
 movement in China is shown in an Imperial order recently 
 dispatched to the coast provinces : the Viceroys, Governors, Pre- 
 fects and District Magistrates — the four chief degrees in the ex- 
 ecutive hierarchy — are directed to furnish the Emperor with 
 precise information as to possible means of increasing the naval 
 schools and supplying new training-ships for the fleet. A further 
 very practical move is the formation of a Committee on Kailroads 
 and Engineering, with orders to draft plans for the opening of 
 schools of railroad engineering at a number of central points 
 through the Empire, from which, it is hoped, railroads will soon 
 radiate to every considerable town, and through all the provinces. 
 Close on the heels of this follows another Committee on Agri- 
 culture, Manufactures and Trade. To the President and Vice- 
 President of this committee are specifically reserved the right of 
 free access to the Emperor at all times, on the business of their 
 departments ; and when we remember the divinity that hedges in 
 the Son of Heaven we shall better understand how much he is in 
 earnest, and how clearly he shows it by sacrificing his ceremonial 
 prerogatives. A School of Agriculture is to be formed, with 
 branches in each district of every province of the Empire, and 
 these branich schools are to procure the latest agricultural ma- 
 chinery, and to exhibit its advantages to the mass of cultivators in 
 the rural districts. It is hoped that a decade will not pass before 
 the whole agriculture of China is transformed by the use of tilling 
 and harvesting machines. 
 
 Another innovation, which seems to have been borrowed from 
 India, was suggested by last year's famine in the three provinces 
 of Hu-pe, Shan-Si and Shan-tung, all not very far from the cap- 
 ital. The Emperor had discovered that the system of distributing 
 free rations among the starving populations was not a success — 
 or, perhaps we should say, the system of allotting considerable 
 sums to that end. Por there is the old tale of peculation and dis- 
 
THE STRUGGLE FOB REFORM IN CHINA. 
 
 honest officials, a Chinese version of the charges more than once 
 brought against the American Government in its relations with 
 the Eed Indians. The Emperor proposes to adopt the British 
 Indian expedient of relief-works, and further intends to improve 
 the occasion by employing the men at these works in the various 
 new industries which he is seeking to introduce throughout the 
 provinces. This would include the building of railroads, the 
 establishment of agricultural machinery, the extension of irriga- 
 tion and the introduction of new manufactures. So that a 
 famine will come as a blessing in disguise. 
 
 Another very important reform touches the procedure in civil 
 cases. It is said that the Chinese courts have a bad eminence ia 
 civil law's delays, keeping a good fat process on the files for 
 months and years, and even decades, to the end that many bribes 
 may be taken ; and after a judge has taken many bribes from 
 both sides it becomes very embarrassing to decide the case at all. 
 The traditional solution in India is to put the final decision up to 
 auction. Before we pass too heavy a sentence on this form of cor- 
 ruption and brand it as the mark of an inferior race, we should 
 remember that Sir Francis Bacon, Baron Verulam, Viscount St. 
 Albans, whom Shelley wrongly called "Lord Bacon," and whom 
 Mr. Gladstone even more wrrongly called "Francis, Lord Bacon," 
 was degraded for selling the decisions of the highest court in the 
 England of his day. Experience makes it probable that this re- 
 form will be one of the hardest to enforce, since its success de- 
 pends largely on the good-will of the very Judges to be reformed. 
 
 Yet another measure shows a daring spirit of innovation: the 
 foundation of a new Medical College at Pekin, for the express pur- 
 pose of introducing the methods of modern Europe. A license 
 for this College has already been granted; but it has dark days 
 before it, for it strikes a blow at vested interests of the most ex- 
 tensive character, founded on most venerable traditions. It is as 
 though the Federal Government were to organize and endow a 
 College for Mental Healing. One could predict stormy days for 
 it, whatever opinion onp held as to the Efficacy of Faith. It is 
 true that Kuang-Hsu throws a sop to Cerberus by including in 
 the course the traditional medical practice of China side by side 
 with the new methods of the West. But it seems to me that this 
 is a false move; for what battles there may be between the rival 
 professors ! Homeopathy and allopathy will be nothing to it. 
 
I 
 
 THE NORTH AMEBIGAN REVIEW. 
 
 But the next reform on the Emperor's list admits of no heal- 
 ing balm. It is a decree for the suspension of the famous Six 
 Boards, a series of venerable sinecures, supposed to look after the 
 education of the heir apparent, the royal stables, the due perform- 
 ance of bowings and laieelings, the imperial banquets, and so 
 forth. Eveiy European Court has half a dozen departments 
 equally ornamental. These interesting survivals — and the salaries 
 — are to become a thing of the past, their nominal duties are 
 to be passed on to Committees of the Senate, and the buildings 
 they occupied are to be turned over to the new Medical College 
 and the Pekin University. 
 
 From a tactical point of view, this seems the Emperor's first 
 grave mistake, for it sets the whole of the permanent Civil Service 
 against the reform programme.] Like many another bringer of 
 glad tidings, his course might have been smoother if he could only 
 have been persuaded to leave the Scribes and Pharisees alone. 
 And the whole army of bureaucrats and lesser officials has evi- 
 dently taken alarm, for we find a recent edict of the Emperor 
 speaking in the following terms : 
 
 "The Government of the Chinese Empire, striving to elevate the 
 various departments of the administration, and with the sole design 
 of conferring heneRts on the people, wishes to employ to this end the 
 methods of the nations of the West, since what is common to the 
 Western nations and the Chinese, has been brought to greater ex- 
 cellence by the former, and may, therefore, serve for our advance- 
 ment. 
 
 "At the same time, the bureaucrats and scholars of this Empire, 
 whose views of foreign nations are characterized by the greatest ignor- 
 ance, pretend that Western nations are totally devoid of order and en- 
 lightenment, not knowing that among the Western nations there are 
 many forms of political science which have as their sole aim the moral 
 elevation of the people, and their material well-being, and which, from 
 their high development, are able to heap benefits on mankind, and to 
 prolong the span of human life. In the West, all eltorts are directed 
 to procuring the blessings which mankind Is entitled to. 
 
 "In our ceaseless efforts to reform various departments of the ad- 
 ministration, we art by no means prompted by a mere desire for 
 novelty, but by a sincere aspiration for the well-being of the Empire 
 entrusted to us by Providence, and handed down to us by our ances- 
 tors. We shall not have fulfilled our duty, if we fail to secure to all 
 our people, the blessings of peace and prosperity. 
 
 "And we are not less grieved at the slights which China has had 
 to submit to, at the hands of foreign governments. But so long as 
 we do not possess the knowledge and science of other peoples, we shall 
 not be able to defend ourselves against them. 
 
 "At the same time, our subjects evidently fail to understand the 
 
THE STBUaOLE FOB REFORM IN OHINA. 
 
 true purpose of our unsleeping endeavors and exertions. Tlie reason 
 of this is that tlie lower classes of ofHcials and the bureaucrats de^ 
 voted to routine [the Scribes and Pharisees] not only do not make our 
 intentions clear, but on the contrary, intentionally confuse the people 
 with vain and unseemly speeches. Grieved and vexed that a true 
 understanding of cur intentions has not reached our subjects, we 
 inform all China, by the present decree, of the true purpose of our 
 doings. This is in order that our enlightened intentions may be known 
 to the whole people, and that the people may know that trust is to be 
 reposed in their Fculer, who, with the help of all, will mould the 
 Government according to new principles, for the strengthening and 
 elevation of the Chinese Empire. 
 
 "To this end we order the Viceroys and Governors to print these 
 our decrees, and to exhibit them on notice-boards, and we order the 
 Prefects and District Magistrates, and all school masters, to explain 
 these decrees to the people. And likewise, we command the Treas- 
 urers, Provincial Judges, District Inspectors, Prefects, heads of dis- 
 tricts and sub-districts, to lay before us, without fear, statements of 
 their views on all imperial questions. And these statements are to be 
 forwarded to us sealed, and must on no account be kept back by 
 Viceroys and Governors. Finally, we order the present decree 
 to be exhibited in a prominent place, in the offices ol all Viceroys and 
 Governors." 
 
 This is a most important document, and the key to much that 
 will happen in the natural course of events in the Chinese Empire 
 during the next fey j^ears. It is the personal confession of faith 
 of the despotic Euler of four hundred millions, more than a quar- 
 ter of the whole human race. To carry out a programme like this 
 Kuang-IIsu had need to be endowed with an uncommonly 
 strong will, and, further, with unerring insight into the character 
 of his helpers. Very much of future history depetids on his pos- 
 session of these two gifts. 
 
 Another projected reform is intended to cut at the root of what 
 is certainly the greatest evil in the system of Chinese Government 
 — the malversation of the revenues, made possible by the very 
 loose system of accounts in vogue in the Treasury Department. 
 An autocrat has been defined as one whose budget is not audited; 
 if this be so, the Chinese Empire is sufEering from an epidemic of 
 autocrats. This time the trouble lies not so much with the 
 Scribes and Pharisees, as with their friends, the Publicans and- 
 Sinners — the farmers of taxes, who bid so much for the right to 
 extort what they can from a long-suffering public. The result of 
 this malversation is such that while the taxable capacity of Cloina 
 is simply enormous, the system of peciilation is so thorough and 
 so much sticks to the fingers of the collectors that the Government 
 is almost chronically bankrupt. The estimated revenue of the 
 
THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW. 
 Chinese Empire amounts to about twenty cents a year for each 
 inhabitant. This is about one-iiftieth of the rate for most Eu- 
 ropean countries, and less than one-hundredth of that of some. 
 So that if the revenues of China were raised to about the same 
 level per head as, say, those of Belgium or Austria-Hungary, 
 China would have a sum of from four to eight thousand million 
 dollars a year to apply to imperial and administrative purposes. 
 And should the innovations contemplated by Kuang-Hsu really be 
 introduced, there is not the faintest doubt that China could bear 
 as heavy taxes as Belgium or Austria-Hungary, and in that case 
 what a formidable vista is opened up in the direction of allot- 
 ments for the Chinese Army and Navy to be turned out of the 
 new and modernized schools. Further, what sums could be spent 
 on bounties to enable any and every manufacture to compete with 
 European rival products, not only in China, but in all the mar- 
 kets of the world. The open door is one of those beautiful rules 
 that may work both ways. Supposing the door should be found 
 to open outwards as well as inwards, and supposing the first thing 
 to come forth were a flood of subsidized screw-nails, sufficient to 
 drive Mr. Chamberlain out of the market, would there not be a 
 sort of poetic Justice in that? 
 
 As far as the revenue is concerned, Kuang-Hsu's avowed pur- 
 pose does not go beyond a stricter system of accounts, a stoppage 
 of some of the innumerable leaks in the aqueducts which deprive 
 the imperial reservoirs of their supplies. But even a slight meas- 
 ure of success in this direction will raise the revenue of China to 
 a formidable amount, and, further, would increase her borrowing 
 power practically without limit. 
 
 And here we approach a very important matter from an inter- 
 national standpoint. To carry out these schemes requires an 
 army of trained and honest administrators; it also requires con- 
 siderable material resources to keep things going while the changes 
 are being introduced. But, while there are doubtless many strong 
 and honest men in China, the Emperor does not seem as yet to 
 have laid his hand on them ; and, as an alternative, he suggests, or 
 adopts the suggestion of, a very remarkable measure. It is nothing 
 less than an appeal to Japan to lend China a band of trained ad- 
 ministrators, such as England has lent to Egypt and India. 
 Only, in the case of China, the initiative comes from the borrower, 
 not from the lender. And in the light of this idea the recent 
 
TRE 8TBUGQLE FOB REFORM IN CHINA. 
 
 Japanese mission to Pekin^ under Marquis Ito, acquires a new 
 significance. 
 
 An excellent statement of this side of the question appeared in 
 a recent number of one of the Pekin radical papers. It is worth 
 quoting at some length. 
 
 The writer begins by citing instances from the early history of 
 China, and the story of Peter the Great, to show that reforms 
 may best be carried out by foreign agents. He then urges the 
 Emperor to seek the assistance of Marquis Ito in the task of re- 
 generating China, asserting that only by a Japanese alliance can 
 China take a firm attitude toward foreign powers and keep back 
 the horrors of a general war. He continues : 
 
 "If Tour Majesty could only persuade Marquis Ito to become con- 
 fidential adviser of China, the reforms which you have undertaken 
 would be promptly carried out, and the international bond between 
 China and Japan would be greatly reinforced; while without Japan's 
 help, the early realization of these reforms is impossible. Even grant- 
 ing that, among the Chinese who have recently entered the arena of 
 public life, a few may be found endowed with the necessary 
 strength of will, they are certain to meet with numberless hindrances, 
 caused by the envy and fear of the enemies of progress. They will 
 spend their energies and lose their reputations in vain efforts, and the 
 ills of the body politic will remain uncured. On the other hand, 
 Marquis Ito, as the experienced minister of a foreign government, who 
 possesses Tour Majesty's fullest confidence, and who is well known to 
 fame, could have nothing to fear from intrigues in the task of intro- 
 ducing reforms. And foreign powers, in their international relations 
 with China, would begin to treat our country in a very different 
 manner. Their schemes of aggrandizement at our expense would in- 
 stantly relax, and this would be the beginning of the transformation 
 of China from a poor and weak country, surrounded with dangers, 
 Into a land full of wealth and strength, and rejoicing in the blessings 
 of assured peace. This is the first reason why we must borrow talent 
 from other nations. 
 
 "The fundamental principles of Chinese policy are isolation and 
 separation, whilst among Western nations the principles of govern- 
 ment are the very opposite of these, namely, intercourse and union; 
 principles which serve to bring about the development of moral and 
 material resources, while isolation and exclusion lead to the very oppo- 
 site result. To these two principles, intercourse and union, the nations 
 of the West are indebted for their greatness and civilization. 
 
 "From the geographical point of view, nations inhabiting the 
 same continent should first unite among themselves. From the 
 point of view of race and language, it is best for kindred peoples to 
 be joined. The peoples of Europe and America do not inhabit the 
 same continent as ourselves; they belong to another race, and 
 speak other tongues. Therefore, in view of these natural obstacles, 
 they cannot be closely united with China. It is quite otherwise with 
 Japan. Although, carried away by her extremely rapid progress, and 
 
THE NORTH AMEBICAN REVIEW. 
 
 that unexpected development which roused the apprehensions of both 
 Europe and America, Japan made war on China, yet, when confronted 
 by Russia, Japan was helpless. It is true that, in order to counter- 
 balance Russia, Japan is making friends with England; but experi- 
 enced men of affairs are convinced that war between them cannot be 
 averted in the future. "Whichever side wins, there will be great 
 changes in the balance of power in Asia. England approached Japan 
 solely because of Russia; England is foreign to us in race; she is for- 
 eign to us therefore in spirit also. What if England, whose sole 
 motive is profit, should find it profitable to change sides and enter 
 into an alliance with Russia? Then Japan, standing alone, would cer- 
 tainly perish. Therefore Japan's natural ally is China. If the Celes- 
 tial Empire, with its vast natural resources, its huge area, its enor- 
 mous population, should really enter into an alliance with Japan, bor- 
 rowing from Japan new methods for the development of China's re- 
 sources, and for the education of competent men, then Japan and 
 China together, in firm union and alliance, could easily withstand 
 either Russia or England, and assure a general pea,ce. This would 
 secure the integrity of the Chinese Emperor's hereditary dominions, 
 and put an end to foreign encroachment. The designs of foreign na- 
 tions can only be withstood by the material might of China, acting 
 under the moral and intellectual guidance of Japan. Russia cherishes 
 desi.gns of encroachment on the north; as regards England, which is 
 striving to maintain peace and gain its own ends, its demands make 
 Russian policy necessary, but in reality England's designs are wholly 
 commercial and selfish. If an alliance existed between China and 
 Japan, Russia could doubtless carry out her design of a Congress in 
 the interests of universal peace, and could enter into enduring and 
 peaceable relations with the other nations of Europe. This is not only 
 very desirable for China and Japan, but it is an object worthy of the 
 sincere aspiration of the whole human race." 
 
 At this point a temporary stop was put to the Chinese dream 
 of regeneration by the interposition of the Conservative party, 
 under the leadership of the Dowager -Empress Tshu-Chsi. This 
 very remarkable woman is the widow of the Emperor I-Tshu, and 
 was co-ruler with the Emperor Chai-Chun from 1861 to 1875, 
 when Kuang-Hsu nominally ascended the throne, being then 
 three years old. As a result of her interposition, the Imperial 
 Gazette announced, as we all remember, that the Emperor found 
 it impossible to deal unaided with the vast mass of administrative 
 affairs in the present critical condition of the Empire, "and re- 
 quested Her Majesty, the Dowager-Empress, who had twice 
 directed the affairs of China with marked success, to lend him 
 her guidance in the conduct of imperial business." Then came 
 three edicts : First, the quite credible announcement that the 
 young Emperor "was very sick;" then, that several reforms were 
 postponed, the famous Six Boards being reinstated; and, lastly, a 
 
THE STBUGQLE FOB REFORM IN CHINA. 
 series of vigorous measures directed against the young Emperor's 
 advisers, finally it was declared that, as of yore, the Empire 
 would be governed according to the principles of the sage 
 Confucius. 
 
 One of the principles of this sage is obedience to parents; 
 and we must take into account the enormous moral weight this 
 obligation has in China before too hastily accusing the young Em- 
 peror of cowardice and supineness. But time is on his side. 
 
 It is always a delicate matter to speak of a lady's age, 
 especially if that lady be an Empress ; but the masterful Dowager 
 is not far from the patriarchal three score years and ten, while 
 her right-hand man, the hardly less masterful Li Hung Chang, 
 is seventy-five. These two are certainly among the twenty most 
 considerable personalities in the world at this moment, a sufficient 
 evidence that the Chinese race is not efEete. But mortality will 
 claim its own, and then will come the turn of young Kuang-Hsu. 
 If it comes even four or five years hence, he will be only about 
 thirty, and his character will have matured in the meantime. I 
 have quoted two Chinese documents at length, in order to show 
 that, if we are counting on the moral and intellectual inferiority 
 of the Chinese, we are suffering from a dangerous illusion. 
 Therefore the success of the young Emperor's plans is quite a 
 probable event; and that success will mean a huge revenue for 
 China; a vast army and fleet on the most modern models, with 
 skilled officers, probably Japanese; a quite unlimited power to 
 subsidize Chinese manufacture against all the world's compe- 
 tition, with a working class of hundreds of millions ready to 
 accept marvellously low wages and quick to master the cheapest 
 and best methods. In a word, it would mean the possible swamp- 
 ing of Western lands, in a military as well as a commercial sense. 
 So that the policy of the door which may open outwards is about 
 the most dangerous for the West that could well be conceived. 
 
 Charles Johnston. 
 
MISSIONS AND MISSIONARIES IN CHINA. 
 
 BY POULTNEY BIGELOW. 
 
 The two most interesting missionaries in China, on the 
 occasion of ray first visit, were Professor Wells Williams, who 
 subsequently enriched Yale University by accepting a professor- 
 ship there, and Father Palladius, an Archimandrite of the Greek 
 Church who had charge of the Eussian mission at Pekin. Will- 
 iams's book on China is still standard authority, and the contri- 
 butions of Palladius to his government are no less important, 
 though unfortunately they are accessible only to those who read 
 either Eussian or German. Both men are now dead, but they 
 represent, each in his sphere, two different sets of ideas in the 
 missionary field. 
 
 When I first met him, the Greek Archimandrite had been 
 forty years in Pekin, and had never been anywhere else, excepting 
 for two caravan journeys to Eussia. He was an elderly gentle- 
 man, with a smile like Benjamin Franklin's, and was famed at 
 the Chinese capital for keeping the best wines and the best 
 tobacco. He was a bachelor, and to-day I recall him when I try 
 to fancy Epicurus in the body. He wore the Chinese pigtail and 
 clothes to match, and people said he could give Chinese mandarins 
 points on etiquette. He gave me, at least, many happy hours, for 
 he talked with a frankness and facility rarely united in a Eussian, 
 least of all an Archimandrite. One day, for instance, I asked him 
 bluntly how many converts he had made. He answered that he 
 thought he had made one, but he did not wish to be taken as 
 stating this positively. When I returned to China after an in- 
 terval of twenty-one years, all my inquiries led me to respect the 
 honesty of this Eussian. He said, furthermore: "I have been 
 here forty years, and perhaps I have converted one Chinaman. 
 When missionaries tell you that they have done more than that, do 
 not believe them." 
 
MISSIONS AND MISSIONABIES IN CHINA. 
 
 Father Palladius seemed to me not merely an epicure, but a 
 trifle cynical in the things of his own profession. He seemed 
 devoid of that happy enthusiasm which enables some people to 
 delight in illusion. For instance, the present Admiral Holland 
 told me he had a boatswain who was a noble Christian Chinaman. 
 That Christian boatswain was quoted in missionary circles all 
 abouJ:, Hong Kong and up the Yangtsze Kiver. The mouth of the 
 scoffer was closed by that one convert for many months. The 
 authority exercised by Admiral Holland over the mind of every 
 white man, both merchant and missionary, was such that from 
 Singapore to Hakodadi the work of evangelization received a 
 perceptible boom through this one alleged convert. Every mis- 
 sionary in China owed him a handsome present — at least for a 
 time. But Admiral Holland has returned to England, and the 
 Chinese boatswain has turned out to be no more Christian than 
 the sacred tooth of Buddha. 
 
 It is dreadfully baffling to ask questions about missionaries 
 from one end of China to another, and then try to form any 
 coherent conclusions. One might almost as well invite opinions 
 about the Jews as a class. And, strange to say, this divergence 
 of opinion is to be found exactly amongst those whose long resi- 
 dence amongst the Chinese entitles them to be regarded as re- 
 spectable witnesses. To get thoroughly warmed up in the cause 
 of converting John Chinaman, one must go to Temple Hill, near 
 Chefoo, and talk with Dr. Corbett. He has worked in China 
 almost as long as had Father Palladius when I first knew him. 
 Dr. Corbett is a splendid type of American, dressed exactly as 
 though in his native ISTew England. He wears a long beard, looks 
 about six feet in height, and his eyes sparkle with humor. His 
 wife has been trained in the hospital service and helps him on 
 the medical side of his mission. He welcomed me to a home 
 equipped for family happiness on the Anglo-American plan, not 
 the least important item being the prattle of his children. One 
 must have been alone in China to understand the gratitude of a 
 white man unexpectedly rescued from the depressing surround- 
 ings of Chinese travel, and permitted to sit down in a homelike 
 family circle. Dr. Corbett told me that China was being rapidly 
 prepared for a grand Christian awakening; that he and his col- 
 leagues had made a large number of converts, but that there were 
 still more who were restrained from avowing their faith because 
 
THE NORTH AMEBICAN BEVIEW. 
 
 they feared evil consequences from a social and political point of 
 view. This vras told ine in the autumn of 1898, and I had heard 
 the same thing at the same place in 1876. Now, Dr. Corbett is 
 a practical worker and had cultivated this field for thirty-six 
 years. He assured me that in that time he had noticed a great 
 improvement in Shantung; that the natives had laid aside much 
 of the hostility which they formerly showed toward strangers. 
 For instance, in his early days such was the hatred of the foreigner 
 that inn-keepers barred their gates when they saw a white man 
 approaching. "To secure a night's lodging," said Dr. Corbett, 
 '■J would have to send my baggage and servants ahead, and only 
 appear myself when these had been installed and my room prac- 
 tically engaged." 
 
 It is not often that we find the Chinaman outwitted by the 
 white man, least of all by the missionary. "Now," said Dr. Cor- 
 bett, "I travel up and down Shantung, visiting our different 
 stations, and am received like any other traveller." 
 
 He took me over the schools of the mission, and enlarged with 
 satisfaction upon the numbers who went forth to spread the light 
 of the white man's civilization, if not Bible doctrine. Dr. Corbett 
 believes that the Chinese who come to him do so from a pure love 
 of religion. For my own part, I am inclined to think that Dr. 
 Corbett's success is due mainly to his own persuasive personali'ty ; 
 to his thorough knowledge of Chinese custom; and, above all, to 
 the fact that in his schools the alleged converts receive an educa- 
 tion which is of great practical value to them as merchants or 
 mechanics. It is impossible to suppose that any Chinaman, after 
 receiving the material benefits conferred by the missionary school, 
 should go back to his fellows unmodified. A course in mechanics, 
 arithmetic, history and philosophy, coupled with some practical 
 demonstrations in the field of chemistry, must leave its impression 
 on the mind even of a Celestial. But those who know the devious 
 mind of that strange yellow creature consider him capable of pre- 
 tending Christianity to the missionaries just as long as he can 
 draw a profit therefrom. 
 
 At Chefoo, I had the pleasure of meeting several Protestant 
 missionaries, amongst them Miss Dovming, whom I had known 
 in the same place and at the same work twenty-two years before. 
 There are about a hundred and sixty American missionaries in 
 Shantung, and to judge by those at Chefoo, their work is earnest 
 
Missions AND MISSIONARIES IN CHINA. 
 
 and animated by an enthusiastic belief in the ultimate evangeliza- 
 tion of China. One afternoon I was invited to address a prayer- 
 meeting, where a large roomful of English and American mission- 
 aries of both sexes were gathered together, a few in Chinese garb. 
 I felt horribly out of place; but yet I was enormously impressed 
 by the courage and devotion to a lofty ideal stamped upon the 
 faces about me. There are all sorts of missionaries in China, and 
 of them all those typified by Dr. Corbett have the most spiritual 
 vitality. His is the religion of the Puritan who preaches the 
 Saviour crucified, and moves the human heart by truth and truth 
 alone. The men of his mission will preach to Chinamen as to a 
 New England audience, or as our Saviour preached by the Sea 
 of Galilee. A blessing goes with such brave efforts, whether the 
 reward be success or death at the hands of a Chinese mob. 
 
 My old friend Palladius called the American missionaries at 
 Chefoo enthusiastic babies. My American friends regarded the 
 ."Russian Archimandrite as a cynical fox. 
 
 Of course, I visited the Jesuit mission at Zickawei to see what 
 changes a quarter of a century had wrought in that place. There 
 were some new faces, but the spirit was unchanged. Chinese 
 orphans, or rather foundlings, were being brought up to useful 
 trades in this vast, missionary machine shop. Beautiful altar- 
 pieces, representing Christian saints, were being chiselled by Chi- 
 nese boys, who would probably soon be burning Joss-sticks to their 
 favorite idols. The good Father pointed out some charred re- 
 mains of church furniture, and told me the story of how the 
 Chinese mob had set fire to their church, after killing and maim- 
 ing some of the congregation. In China one becomes accustomed 
 to this chronicle of murder, which is a symptom of the chronic 
 war between mandarin and missionary. I have forgotten the 
 name of the place where this particular massacre happened, nor 
 can I remember the dozens like it. It would surprise the abstract 
 Chinaman, however, to learn that these fragments of charred 
 saints, so far from discouraging further missionary effort, only 
 heighten the zeal of those volunteering for a like risk. 
 
 The Jesuit fathers were mainly French, though I had chats 
 with one or two from Bavaria and the Ehine. They wore the 
 Chinese queue and long robes, such as the local men of learning 
 affect. The Jesuits have from the very beginning of their mis- 
 sionary efforts adopted the policy of beating the Chinaman on his 
 
THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW. 
 own ground; challenging Ms respect by a show of learning, not 
 merely in the sciences of Europe, but also in the classics of Con- 
 fucius. Dr. Corbett, on the contrary, and with him most 
 Evangelical workers, are opposed to imitating the Chinese in their 
 dress or in anything which implies a lowering of the missionary 
 to their level. The Bible Christian will make no pact with 
 heathen philosophy, whereas the disciple of Loyola will conclude 
 any bargain by which he may gain ever so small an advance upon 
 the enemy. 
 
 On the occasion of my first visit to Zickawei, I was in company 
 with the French minister at Pekin, and the priests entertained us 
 with food and wine which rivalled those of Father Palladius. 
 Standing at the window, I looked out upon a flat landscape 
 emphasized by a small elevation on the horizon. I asked the 
 priest what that was. He answered that it was the shrine of a 
 saint, and that the Chinese Christians made pilgrimages thither 
 once a year. When I pressed him to tell how he managed to get 
 Christian saints at this place, he shrugged his shoulders, smiled 
 pleasantly, and remarked that, as the Chinese enjoyed gatherings 
 and gongs and banners and such tom-foolery, the missionaries 
 had been compelled to create this pilgrimage or discourage Chris- 
 tianity. Hence this shrine. 
 
 In the courtyard he showed me a beautiful statue of the Virgin 
 Mary, with two Chinese in native garb kneeling below. The 
 Virgin was not in Chinese dress, but I suppose that will come 
 in time. 
 
 This missionary institution has a school of architecture, where 
 designs are made for Catholic buildings throughout China. 
 Large numbers of books are printed here, all the work being done 
 by Chinese foundlings, under the superintendence of the Vnite 
 priests. Wood-cutting and lithography are taught, also printing 
 in color. Some lurid posters were shown to me, which were 
 destined to hang up in Chinese Christian chapels. Their purpose 
 was to discourage the bad Chinamen and stimulate the good 
 ones. One poster represented the death-bed of the bad Chinaman, 
 whose wickedness was attested by the opium pipe and the gaming 
 dice at his bedside. 'A black devil, with horns, tail and wings, 
 had fastened an iron collar around his neck, to which was linked 
 a long iron chain. Dragons were rising from a hole in the 
 ground, likewise monstrous flames. The black devil was pro- 
 
MISSIONS AND MISSIONARIES IN CHINA. 
 ceeding to drag the screaming and resisting wicked Chinaman to 
 the iiaming hole in the floor, while his wife and children looked 
 on in distress. At the top of the picture was seated our Saviour, 
 with Chinese slippers on his feet, and an expression on his face 
 that was enough like that of a mandarin to please the average 
 convert. Some angels with Chinese slippers were flitting about, 
 chasing devils. 
 
 The pendant to this was the death of a good Chinaman, where 
 the devil looked very much discouraged as he disappeared down 
 a flaming trapdoor in the foreground. An angel in Chinese slip- 
 pers was watching by the bedside, and above was represented a 
 Chinaman in full official dress, kneeling on clouds before some 
 Christian figures, whom I took to represent Saint Joseph, the 
 "\'irgin Mary, and our Saviour. 
 
 Two of these pious posters were devoted respectively to Heaven 
 and Hell. To a Chinaman, Hell is a pretty simple conception, 
 which is refreshed every day in his daily walks about his native 
 town, and whenever a criminal court is in session. The hell- 
 poster, therefore, merely outdid Dante in the matter of snakes 
 and devils tormenting wretches already crazy with suffering. The 
 poster of Heaven was more subtle. There was a choir of slanting- 
 eyed angels, beating gongs, tom-toms and many other instruments 
 vaguely hinted at. In the background were enthroned the Crea- 
 tor and our Saviour, though the chief object of adoration appeared 
 to be the Virgin Mary. In the foreground were a dozen or so 
 happy faces of saints, amongst which were emperors, kings, popes, 
 bishops, and — more conspicuous than any — two Chinamen. For 
 the sake of local prejudice, the women were bunched separate from 
 the men. . 
 
 These posters were doing duty in 1876 and are so popular 
 to-day that they are constantly reproduced at the mission. 
 
 The foundlings I saw were mostly scrofulous. Father Beck, 
 a Bavarian, told me this was a common complaint all over China. 
 
 The Jesuits were the pioneer missionaries in China, and to-day 
 do a great work. But now, as then, their success lies not in 
 preaching things spiritual, so much as in demonstrating the power 
 of the white man as compared to the yellow. Every sailor-man in 
 the Far East has gratitude toward the Jesuits of Zickawei, be- 
 cause they tell him when to expect bad weather. The Fathers 
 have a well-equipped observatory connected by wire with many 
 
THE NORTH AMEBIOAN REVIEW. 
 
 stations in the Eastern Seas, and thus they can foretell the arrival 
 of typhoons. It is a Jesuit priest who observes the sun, and at 
 exactly twelve o'clock touches an electric button to move the time- 
 ball by which Shanghai Harbor corrects her ships' chronometers. 
 
 I was shown a transit instrument made in New York, and a 
 full line of reports of the Smithsonian Institute, the United States 
 Weather Bureau, and other scientific bodies. On the walls were 
 portraits of famous Jesuit missionaries, amongst them Eicci, 
 Schall, and Verbiest, all in the gaudy dress of Chinese grandees. 
 In the adjoining room a Chinese convert was working out typhoon 
 probabilities, while in the yard below sore-headed foundlings were 
 playing about the feet of the Virgin Mary. It was a weird pic- 
 ture this — the co-operation of science and Eoman Catholicism for 
 the overthrow of Buddha and Confucius. 
 
 The Bavarian priest was a jolly man all round. Like his 
 brethren, he had come here, under vows of poverty and celibacy, 
 to spend his whole life in the service of people who wished him ill 
 in his work. He talked merrily about the relative merits of 
 Munich beer while expecting at any moment an order to proceed 
 to a station where life was highly insecure. 
 
 The Jesuit has, of course, only contempt for evangelical 
 methods. He regards the Chinaman as a creature essentially 
 difEerent from the white man, and consequently as one whose 
 senses and emotions must be differently awakened. The idea of a 
 Christian revival in China, on the plan of the Methodist camp- 
 meeting, is regarded by him as absurd. He proposes not to revo- 
 lutionize, but merely to modify what already exists. As the early 
 Christian Church absorbed amongst the Eomans many heathen 
 names and customs, so, in China, the Jesuits, from the days of 
 Eicci to our own, have sought, not so much to expel the local 
 religions as to Eomanize them, if not Christianize them. The 
 Jesuit finds much that is admirable in Buddha and Confucius; 
 nor does he deny the possibility of a Chinaman's being a valuable 
 convert and yet burning Joss-sticks at the graves of his ancestors. 
 The Jesuit tells the learned Chinaman that Confucius was prac- 
 tically a Christian so far as his moral philosophy is concerned, 
 and that Buddhism has many good points; but that the Eoman 
 Catholic is the religion which embodies what is good in every 
 system, with the additional advantage of having expelled what 
 was idolatrous. 
 
MISSIONS AND MISSIONARIES IN CHINA. 
 
 In the days of the early Jesuits this line of argument was 
 fairly successful, but nowadays so strong has the feeling against 
 foreigners become that the Chinaman is inclined to stick to his 
 own gods merely because they are Chinese, and to distrust the 
 gods of other nations merely because they are of the foreigner. 
 
 The American missionaries have the hardest time of any, be- 
 cause they are so much at the mercy of their Consul. Our Consul 
 in the Far East represents to the American merchant and mis- 
 sionary the whole round of governmental functions, civil, miUtary, 
 and even ecclesiastical. Mr. Fowler, of Chefoo, told me that he 
 was the only one out of eleven American Consuls in China who 
 had been in that position more than a year. If a missionary 
 wishes to make a will, to do any legal act, to obtain redress at law, 
 the American Consul is his judge. If a missionary desires to 
 marry, as often happens, he has to come to the Consulate. This 
 is sometimes embarrassing, for missionaries are not rich, as a rule, 
 and travelling in China is apt to be injurious to health, if not 
 dangerous to personal safety. Iniagine an American lady, per- 
 haps a thousand miles from an American Consulate, compelled to 
 travel under the horrible conditions prevailing in China in order 
 to be declared legally married. We in America naturally ask, 
 why another missionary, an ordained clergyman, could not marry 
 them. United States law has, in China, at least, been construed 
 in the manner most likely to swell the fees of the Consul. 
 
 The Eev. Dr. Sims, while I was in China, protested against 
 being compelled to make long and dangerous journeys through 
 China for matrimonial purposes. He stated that Dr. King, at 
 Tai-an-foo, when engaged to Miss Knight of the same city, had 
 been required to go to Chinkiang, under their protest, to be mar- 
 ried. On their return up the Grand Canal, she took small-pox 
 and (Med within one week after reaching home. 
 
 In another instance, equally well authenticated, the Eev. Dr. 
 Eoyall and Miss Sullivan were married by a fellow-missionary, 
 after having obtained the consent of the Consul-General at Shang- 
 hai. Some time after the marriage, however, this same Consul 
 coolly informed them that he had been mistaken, and that they 
 must come to the Consulate at Shanghai and go through the cere- 
 mony over again. 
 
 Please imagine the feelings of Miss Sullivan, thus charged by 
 the highest legal tribunal with having lived with a man who was 
 
 VOL. CLXXI — NO. 624 3 
 
THE NORTH AMERICAS REVIEW. 
 
 not her husband! This so affected the youiig lady that her life 
 at one time was deemed in danger. 
 
 The Eev. Mr. Blaylock and Miss Humphries, who were mar- 
 ried at Tai-an-foo by a brother missionary before about eighteen 
 English and American witnesses, were subsequently informed that 
 they were illegally united, and must proceed to do the thing over 
 again before our Consul in Shanghai. They did so at great cost 
 and personal risk. In returning up the Grand Canal, so said the 
 Eev. Dr. Sims, Mr. Blaylock was taken seriously ill, was kept a 
 year in bed at Chin-an-foo, and managed to reach home with ex- 
 treme difficulty. He is now in America, a physical wreck. 
 
 The Eev. Mr. Hudson had gone with his betrothed to Chin- 
 kiang. On their return Mr. Pludson was attacked by robbers, and 
 narrowly escaped with his life. 
 
 The history of evangelical mission-work in China is a painful 
 chronicle of persecution, nobly sustained by a large body of de- 
 voted men and women frequently poorly equipped for their work, 
 and always inadequately organized. If all Christian missionaries 
 could unite under one head and proceed upon some coherent plan 
 of operations, the result would no doubt be better. At present, 
 the Chinese marvel at the lack of unity amongst Christians, par- 
 ticularly when a Catholic chapel opens its doors close to a Baptist 
 meeting-house, and the ministers of each tell the Chinese that 
 their particular faith only is efficacious. 
 
 The missionary has in China to combat a vast volume of in- 
 herited conceit and prejudice. He has to deal with Orientals 
 conscious of a historic sequence longer than that of any white 
 dynasty, full of triumphs in the domain of science, and rich in 
 philosophy. The Chinese stood at the head of civilization when 
 Europe was but a barbarous province. Hundreds of inventions 
 are claimed by the Chinese at a period when the learning of 
 Europe was monopolized by a handful of monks. The China- 
 man despises the profession of arms, and so far he knows of 
 Europe little beyond her power as manifested in a military man- 
 ner. He shuns intercourse with the outer barbarian, for the cus- 
 toms of his ancestors are sacred in his eyes, and he considers the 
 future of China bound up with devotion to the existing order of 
 things. A highly cultivated missionary who can confer with 
 learned Chinese scholars can do much to remove unfounded 
 prejudice in the small circle of his acquaintance, and this I be- 
 
MISSIONS AND MISSIONARIES IN CHINA. 
 
 lieve he does. The Chinaman who sees daily the good work 
 done by a white man, if he does not himself become a Christian, 
 at least lays aside the desire to murder him. 
 
 It is worth noting that where the white man in China is 
 seen most frequently, there, little by little, he has awakened the 
 most tolerance amongst the natives. How, then, can we account 
 for the strange massacres that have taken place at short inter- 
 vals, not merely in the interior, but at treaty ports like the one 
 at Tientsin in 1870 ? A study of the different assaults upon for- 
 eigners in China forces us reluctantly to the conclusion that in 
 almost every case these have been instigated and carried out, if 
 not by Government agents, at least with their consent and ap- 
 proval. The public is ofBcially informed, in every case, that such 
 and such a mission station was destroyed by the mob, and that 
 the Chinese Government could not possibly prevent such out- 
 breaks. The Chinese Government, however, has always succeeded 
 in punishing severely any disobedience against its ovm orders. It 
 is only when the victim is a white man that the mandarins prove 
 powerless to interfere. Even when ringleaders have been indi- 
 cated, these have always found Chinese protection ; and, in short, 
 China from top to bottom has given abundant evidence that she 
 does not desire to maintain her share in treaties which encourage 
 white people to reside in the Celestial Empire. 
 
 The German Emperor, when he avenged the death of his mis-^ 
 sionaries by seizing Kiao Chao, acted in a manner strange to our 
 rules of international law, but under the circumstances he gave 
 China a lesson that she sadly required. It is a lesson which 
 should be repeated on every fitting occasion ; for, in the last three 
 centuries, it is the only one by which she has ever proiited in her 
 intercourse with the white man. 
 
 In 1647, the Bast India Company commenced British trade 
 with China by sending to the Canton Eiver the four good ships 
 "Dragon," "Sun," "Catherine," and "Anne." They anchored off 
 the Bogue Forts, and at the request of the mandarins waited for 
 the promised trade facilities. They waited four days, at the end 
 of which time the Chinese forts opened fire upon them with 
 "forty-six of iron-caste ordnance, each piece between six and seven 
 hundredweight." The ancient chronicler then remarks: "Here- 
 with the whole fleet, being instantly incensed, did on a sudden 
 display the bloody ensign." The result of it was a landing party. 
 
TEE NOBTM AMEBICAM REVIEW. 
 
 the capture of the Fort, and an excellent understanding with the 
 mandarins. From Canton Eiver, in 1647, to Eliao Chao Bay, in 
 1897, no better method of dealing with official China has yet been 
 devised. It has always been the same old story of official men- 
 dacity and treachery, followed by an explosion of wrath and 
 violence from the white man's side, after which has ensued a 
 period of good understanding and trade expansion. 
 
 Up to the time when Queen Victoria ascended the throne of 
 England, Anglo-Saxon traders were tolerated at Canton much 
 as infected emigrants are treated in New York harbor. They 
 were the victims of official insolence and interference; forbidden 
 to have their wives and families with them; forbidden to go 
 into the country; forbidden to enter the Chinese city. No China- 
 man was allowed to give them instruction, and their intercourse 
 was strictly limited to officials specially selected. No changes have 
 been effected during the many years that have passed, save such 
 as have been wrung from an unwilling government by threats of 
 bombardment. The white man has had no serious war with 
 China, speaking in a European sense. The Opium War, the 
 Lorcha Arrow AVar, the Anglo-French Expedition of 1860 — these 
 and similar smaller enterprises were all undertaken to avenge 
 gross breaches of the law of nations. The history of England's in- 
 tercourse with China shows but too clearly that, so far from having 
 misused her strength in bullying a weaker nation, she has, to an 
 extraordinary extent, submitted to official insult and violation of 
 treaty rights rather than have recourse to force. 
 
 When Commodore Perry anchored his fleet in Yeddo Bay, 
 less than half a century ago, he awakened a people artificially 
 hampered by medieval custom, but whose bodies and brains pul- 
 sated to the calls of the nineteenth century. Japan arose as one 
 man, and to-day honors the name of Perry with a fervor only 
 second to that which we have for Christopher Columbus. Europe 
 has been thundering at the gates of China for three hundred 
 years, but this thunder has started no more echo than moist fire- 
 crackers. One city of China may be smashed to pieces, but the 
 next takes no interest in it. A whole province may be overrun 
 by the enemy without calling forth any help from its neighbors^ 
 Through generation after generation of officialism, ignorant, re- 
 trograde and corrupt, the great body of China has become torpid, 
 and will remain so for just so long as the white man permits the 
 
MISSIONS AND MISSIONARIES IN CHINA. 
 present administration to persist. The vast official body of China 
 has, or believes that it has, a direct pecuniary interest in the re- 
 pression, or at least the discouragement, of foreign intercourse. 
 The official ring of China covers that country to a degree not far 
 removed from that to which Tammany Hall controls New York. 
 The mandarin has large vested interests which are all threatened 
 by intercourse with people of our education; consequently the 
 rulers of cities encourage their people to believe that dirty streets 
 are good, and that pestilence must be combated by backsheesh to 
 the priests. The white man forms a settlement wherein the 
 streets are cleaned, lighted and policed; where hospitals care for 
 the sick; where courts of justice are open to all. Such things 
 as these are an abomination to the orthodox Chinese official, to 
 the same degree that the late Colonel Waring, who first cleaned 
 the streets of New York, was an eyesore to professional poli- 
 ticians. 
 
 Chinese officialdom is at war with the white man's civiliza- 
 tion, and it fights with the weapons it deems most effective. 
 Gunboats and battalions are not to its taste. So it makes a treaty 
 every paragraph of which it proceeds to nullify the moment the 
 ink is dry. It instigates murder, and then explains officially that 
 it was the mob that was responsible. 
 
 In 1838 there was signed the famous treaty of Tientsin. The 
 eighth article of this treaty is regarded as something of a Magna 
 Charta, at least by the missionary. It reads: 
 
 "The Christian religion, as professed by Protestants or Roman 
 Catholics, inculcates the practice of virtue and teaches man to do as 
 he would be done by. Persons teaching it, or professing it, therefore, 
 shall alike be entitled to the protection of the Chinese authorities, nor 
 shall any such, peaceably pursuing their calling, and not offending 
 against the laws, be persecuted or interfered with." 
 
 So far as paper and ink are concerned, the white man in 
 China has secured as much official protection as he needs for car- 
 rying on trade or conducting missionary enterprise. But, side 
 by side with these generous treaty concessions, the Chinese Gov- 
 ernment has tolerated the systematic incitement of the mob to 
 every act calculated to make treaties of no avail. So far back 
 as 1754, foreign residents complained that "injurious posters were 
 annually put up by the government, accusing foreigners of hor- 
 rible crimes, and intended to expose them to the .contempt of the 
 populace." 
 
THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW. 
 
 Even then, the accusations were made that missionaries gouged 
 out the eyes of foundlings and mutilated women in a vile man- 
 ner — charges which have been persisted in to our day. When 
 vigorously addressed by a combination of foreign powers, the 
 Pekin government has always officially repudiated the authors of 
 these posters; but at the same time it has given private intima- 
 tion that this propaganda was pleasing to the Emperor. Indeed, 
 those who publish the filthy posters invoke oflScial sanction by 
 printing, as preface, the Sacred Edict — a sort of paternal address 
 from the throne promulgated by the joint efforts of two canonized 
 emperors some two centuries ago. Dr. Williams, in his "Middle 
 Kingdom," says that this document is regarded as a most sacred 
 command, which is proclaimed throughout the Empire by the 
 local officers on the 1st and 15th days of every month. 
 
 As a pendant of the Tientsin Treaty it is worth preserving. 
 
 It reads thus: 
 
 "With respect to hpterodox books not in accordance with the 
 teachings of the sages, and those tending to excite and disturb the 
 people, to give rise to differences and irregularities, and to undermine 
 the foundations of all things; all such teach corrupt and dangerous 
 doctrines which must be suppressed and exterminated. . . . Prom 
 ancient times, the three religions have been propagated together. Be- 
 sides Confucianism, which holds the pre-eminence, we have Buddhism 
 and Taoism. . . . There is, however, a class of vagabond adven- 
 turers (Christian) who under the pretext of teaching these systems 
 (Buddhism, etc.), bring them into the greatest disrepute, making false 
 parade of what is propitious and unpropitious, and of future rewards 
 and punishments, for the purpose of giving currency to their foolish 
 and unfounded stories. Their object in the beginning is to make a 
 living. By degrees they collect men and women into promiscuous 
 gatherings for the purpose of burning incense. . . . The worst of 
 all is that there lurk within these assemblies treacherous, depraved 
 and designing persons, who form dangerous combinations and pledge 
 themselves to each other by oaths. They meet in darkness and dis- 
 perse at dawn. They imperil their lives, sin against righteousness, 
 and deceive and entrap the people. . . . Such is the religion of the 
 "West, which reveres the I^ord of heaven. It also is not to be regarded 
 as orthodox. Because its teachers (the early Jesuits) were well versed 
 in mathematics, our government made use of them. Of this you 
 must not be ignorant. As to unauthorized doctrines which deceive the 
 people, our laws cannot tolerate them. For false and corrupt teachers 
 our government has fixed punishments." 
 
 Thus with one hand the Chinese Government promises the 
 white man legal protection, and with the other pledges his favor 
 tc the mob when it guts the missionary compound and mjirders 
 the unorthodox inmates. 
 
MISSI02f8 AND MISSIONARIES IN CHINA. 
 
 The public misrepresentations of the spirit and aims of the 
 Christian religion and of the objects which animate Christian 
 missionaries in their work are almost incredible. I have before 
 me a specimen of the posters which are from time to time exhib- 
 ited throughout the country with a view to bring indignation and 
 contempt upon the foreigner. It represents our Saviour in the 
 shape of a hog. He is being worshipped by two "foreign devils," 
 the one marked "teacher," the other "disciple." These two are 
 branded with the most insulting epithets known to Chinese vocab- 
 ulary, notably those indicating lack of sexual virtue. One inscrip- 
 tion reads: "This is the beast which the foreign devils follow. 
 The hog^s skin and bristles are still upon him." 
 
 Down the left-hand side of the picture and in the middle of 
 the poster are inscriptions which are absolutely too obscene for 
 publication. 
 
 The interest of this poster lies not in its indecency and quaint 
 exhibition of ignorance, but in the fact that it has been distrib- 
 uted with official connivance throughout China; that it has been 
 exposed in public places alongside of imperial edicts forbidding 
 the publication of such posters; and that whenever massacres 
 have taken place the mob has been first inflamed by teaching of 
 this nature. 
 
 In 1870, on the 21st of June, the mob at Tientsin attacked 
 the French mission, murdering ten Sisters of Mercy, amongst 
 others. This massacre was followed by a trial which even the 
 most careful students of things Chinese regarded as a fraud. A 
 dozen or so of innocent coolies were decapitated, but the real 
 authors were rewarded, because they were high in office. In the 
 midst of the Franco-G-erman War this horrible massacre was 
 little noticed in Europe; and, after all, it differed only in degree 
 from a dozen others, all instigated by the official organization 
 which prepared the filthy posters to which I have referred. 
 
 The Tientsin massacres were preceded by a flood of posters 
 teaching the mob that missionary establishments abducted native 
 women and children for purposes of mutilation. 
 
 Every diabolical practice is attributed to missionaries, not 
 merely for religious purposes, but for the mere greed of money. 
 
 The Chinaman is taught to think that they extract the eyes 
 of his dead countrymen in order to use them in the manufacture 
 of precious metals. Some recent cartoons even accuse Christians 
 
TBE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW. 
 
 of gouging Chinese eyes out before death. One cartoon exhibits 
 to the mob two murderous missionaries in the act of taking out 
 eyes, while a couple of blind Chinamen are groping about in 
 misery. This cartoon is headed : "The Hog Sect gouging out the 
 eyes." A popular pamphlet distributed by officials for the pur- 
 pose of inciting hatred of the foreigner makes this statement: 
 
 "In case of funerals, the religious teachers eject all the relatives 
 and friends from the house, and the corpse is put into the coffin with 
 closed doors. Both eyes are secretly taken out, and the orifices sealed 
 up with plaster. This is what Is called 'sealing the eyes for the West- 
 ern journey.' . . . The reason for extracting the eyes is this: From 
 one hundred pounds of Chinese lead eight pounds of silver can be 
 extracted, and the remaining ninety-two pounds of lead can be sold at 
 the original cost, but the only way to obtain this silver is by com- 
 pounding the lead with the eyes of Chinamen. The eyes of foreigners 
 are of no use for this purpose, hence they do not take out the eyes of 
 their own people, but only those of the Chinese. The method by which 
 the silver is obtained has never been discovered by any of the native 
 Christians, during the long period in which this religion has been 
 propagated here." 
 
 No trash is too silly so long as it charges cruelty, lewdness, 
 and money-greed to the white man in general, and to the mis- 
 sionary in particular. At a distance of ten thousand miles, we 
 can afford to smile at these infantile productions and pity the 
 perpetrators, as did John Huss those who reviled him. But to 
 the white man on the spot these are more than the squibs of mis- 
 chievous children. They are the programme of a government too 
 weak to establish sound administration, but strong enough to ob- 
 struct the white man in his efforts at reform. 
 
 PODIiTNET BiGHLOW. 
 
AMERICA'S TREATMENT OF THE CHINESE. 
 
 BY CHARLES F. HOLDER. 
 
 A DISTINGUISHED French diplomat recently said : "America is 
 not the disinterested figure generally supposed. She will be 
 forced to take sides in the partition of China if it comes, and will 
 not submit to fill the mere office of a looker on in Venice. More- 
 over," continued the speaker, "the pohey of America has been dis- 
 tinctly aggressive and anti-Chinese since 1868. The United 
 States government has in every way outraged China, has broken 
 its treaties time and again, and, if the history of these wrongs 
 were written it would show that China has had reason for a decla- 
 ration of war against the government of the States time and 
 again. I know not what you think; but to a European outsider 
 the United States has for years carried a chip on its shoulder ; and 
 the assumption is that it would welcome a war with China, that 
 the opportunity might afEord an excuse to acquire a port or colony 
 in China for its commercial aggrandisement." 
 
 There is hardly an American reader who will not laugh at 
 this rodomontade, but, while it may seem a waste of time to prove 
 the futility of such suspicions on the part of foreigners as to the 
 purposes which have animated us in our dealings with China, it is 
 interesting to glance at our treaty relations with China from the 
 standpoint of an alien, and note how we have carried out our 
 obligations, and what our treatment of China has actually been. 
 
 Our first treaty with China was negotiated by Caleb Gushing, 
 who as Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary went 
 to China in 1844, bearing a letter to the Emperor from President 
 Tyler. But four years before then, the British fleet had bom- 
 barded the ports which had been sealed for centuries; and as a 
 result, five ports were open at the time of Mr. Cushing's mission, 
 and Great Britain was in full possession of Hong Kong, which 
 bad been ceded in perpetuity by the helpless and impotent nation. 
 
AMEBIOA'a TREATMENT OF TEE CHINESE. 
 
 Mr. Gushing had, in a large measure, discretionary powers, and 
 after assuring the Emperor that America was not in sympathy 
 with the attitude of Great Britain in seizing Hong Kong, he ne- 
 gotiated the Treaty of Wang Hiya, which constitutes the first act 
 of oiiicial intercourse this country has had with China. 
 
 This treaty, which lias always been o€ great benefit to us, gave 
 Americans the right of residence at the treaty ports. This was 
 considered by the Chinese a remarkable concession, and Mr. Cash- 
 ing was given to understand that it was granted in appreciation of 
 the friendly attitude of America, though it was a self-evident fact 
 that Americans could not have been kept out. The treaty did not 
 end here. By it, Americans obtained extra-territorial privileges 
 which, among other things, gave them the right to be tried in their 
 consular courts. Mr. Gushing also secured the insertion of what 
 is known as the "most favored nation clause," which placed Amer- 
 ican citizens on a par with the citizens of other nations. 
 
 These were the first concessions obtained from the Chinese, 
 the first clouds on the Celestial horizon suggestive of their ultimate 
 undoing ; the door once open, the cupidity of the entire commercial 
 world was aroused. The concession of Hong Kong to Great 
 Britain was but a sop thrown to delay the inevitable ; and seventeen 
 years after the opening of the doors of China we find England 
 and France allied for the purpose of prying open the Chinese 
 oyster still wider. 
 
 The attitude of America at that Juncture is a matter of his- 
 tory, and it was commendable from a diplomatic and humanitarian 
 point of view. We were invited by the Powers interested to make 
 common cause with them against China, but we declined and sent 
 a special envoy, in the person of W. B. Eeed, to inform the Em- 
 peror that we were not in sympathy with the action of the Powers. 
 Our position was criticised by England, whose wits expressed the 
 opinion that America declined to Join in the war, as a matter of 
 economy, but sent a fleet up the Peiho in the wake of the ships of 
 Prance and England, and secured all the commercial benefits 
 without a corresponding expense. 
 
 This was, to a certain extent, true; as, after this war, we ob- 
 tained our second treaty with China, while England and France 
 paid the expense ; their combined fleets forcing open six new ports, 
 and our envoy, Mr. Eeed, obtaining with them the right of trade 
 and residence. This treaty begins as follows : 
 
■THE NORTE AMERICAN REVIEW. 
 
 "There shall be, as there always has b^en, peace between the 
 United States of America and the Ta-Tslng Empire and between their 
 people, respectively. They shall not insult or oppress each other for 
 any trifling cause, so as to produce an estrangement between them." 
 
 This was, surely, a gentle satire on future events, as Ameri- 
 cans have undoubtedly treated the Chinese in America with 
 studied disrespect. The Chinese have retaliated by making this 
 country the dumping ground of their criminals, the great seat of 
 their slave trade, and in many directions have dispossessed the 
 American laborer. 
 
 The third treaty with China was consummated by Anson Bur- 
 lingame, who was Minister to China in 1863; a compact which 
 was at the root of all the labor troubles on the Pacific coast, and 
 which dominated politics about the Golden Gate for three de- 
 cades. At this time Senator Stanford, Mr. Huntington and other 
 railroad men were figuring on the Pacific Eailroad and needed 
 cheap labor to accomplish it. Mr. Burlingame was requested to 
 say to the Ta-Tsing government that America would welcome 
 Chinese emigrants in unlimited numbers. Previous to this there 
 was an unwritten law in the Orient that no Chinaman should leave 
 his country, but the invitation of America brought about a change. 
 The Ta-Tsing government recognized an opportunity to reduce its 
 surplus paupers and criminals, and a treaty was readily agreed 
 upon. It began as follows, and it is interesting reading in the 
 light of later events : 
 
 "The United States of America and the Emperor of China cordially 
 recognize the inherent and inalienable right of man to change his home 
 and allegiance; and also the mutual advantage of the free migration 
 and emigration of their citizens and subjects, respectively, from the 
 one country to the other for purposes of curiosity, of trade, or as per- 
 manent residents." 
 
 At the invitation of our government the Chinese poured into 
 this country in a human river, whose flow never flagged, and in 
 1867 the Chinese population of the Pacific slope was formidable 
 and portentous. A cry went up, American labor sounded the 
 alarm, and the abrogation of the famous Burlingame treaty was ' 
 demanded. While attempts were being made in this direction, the 
 hoodlum element of San Francisco determined to take time by the 
 forelock and Chinamen by the queue, and what was knovm as the 
 "sand-lot agitation," a protest against the third treaty, was begun: 
 So intense was the excitement that the government was obliged to 
 
AMERICA'S TREATMENT OF THE CHINESE. 
 
 interfere, and a special embassy, composed of James B. Angell, W. 
 H. Trescott and John F. Swift, was appointed by President Hayes 
 and sent to Peking to request a modification of the treaty, which 
 ■a decade before Mr. Burlingame had used every device known to 
 the skilled diplomat to obtain. Under some circumstances it 
 would have been humiliating to the national pride, but the Pacific 
 coast was aflame. Law and order were crushed under foot, and it 
 was manifestly impossible to protect Chinamen in America; hence 
 the modification of the treaty was demanded and received. 
 
 The modified treaty is, of interest at this time in its bearing 
 upon the Hawaiian Islands, now a territory of the United States. 
 The first article reads : 
 
 "Whenever, in the opinion of ^he United States, the coming of 
 Chinese laborers to the United States or their residence therein, affects 
 or threatens to affect the interests of that country, or to endanger 
 the good order of that country, or of any locality within the territory 
 thereof, the government of China agrees that the government of the 
 United States may regulate, limit, or suspend such coming or residence, 
 but may not absolutely prohibit it." 
 
 The result of this treaty was the nominal stoppage of Chinese 
 immigration, with the favored nation clause included, a feature 
 which had constituted the essence of one of our early treaties. Up 
 to this time China and the United States had been on terms of 
 cordiality, but the new treaty did not satisfy the anti-Chinese 
 party on the Pacific coast, and a series of outrages was begun, 
 which, to the unprejudiced observer, suggest that the criticism of 
 the French diplomat is not without reason, and that we have not 
 observed the spirit of our treaties with China. In truth, for 
 purely local political reasons certain rights of the Chinese have 
 not been respected. DifSculties began to accumulate in 1883., 
 when Congress took action on the Angell treaty, and passed an 
 act, the first section of which states : 
 
 "That from and after the expiration of ninety days after the pas- 
 sage of this Act, the coming of Chinese laborers to the United States 
 be, and the same is, hereby suspended for ten years; and during such 
 suspension it shall not be lawful for any Chinese laborers to come, or 
 having so come after the expiration of ninety days, to remain within 
 the United States." 
 
 The first efl'ect of this was noticed in China, where the Chinese 
 began to retaliate against Americans, many of whom were obliged 
 to take refuge in consulates, and a general uprising against for- 
 
THE NORTH AMEBIC AN REVIEW. 
 
 eigners was threatened. The records show that three years after 
 the Chinese Eestriction Act was put in force, 40,222 Chinese had 
 returned to China, and but 18,704 had entered the United States. 
 To illustrate the feeling at this time, it is told by a school teacher 
 in a primary school in San Francisco, that the children having 
 bought an American flag with their money, she -asked them to 
 select some sentiment to work upon it. One little boy raised his 
 hand, and on being asked what he would inscribe on the flag, re- 
 plied : "The Chinese must go." Such was the sentiment when 
 even children were taught to hoot at and hurl stones at China- 
 men. 
 
 In the election of 1888 each political party on the Pacific coast 
 made the sentiment of this cliild its party cry. It was a local 
 issue, but was soon made a national question by the astute leaders, 
 who knew that by obtaining anti-Chinese legislation in Congress 
 the party on the Coast would be aided. So a new treaty was 
 prepared and submitted to the Chinese Minister and his govern- 
 ment, then amended in the Senate, and finally, that it might not 
 be too late for its intended effect upon the voters, the Democratic 
 party in the House forced what is known as the "Scott Exclusion 
 _Aet" through Congress, and it was signed by President Cleveland. 
 In truth, so far as our former treaties were concerned, and looking 
 at it from a non-partisan point of view, it was an outrage upon the 
 proprieties, a gratuitous insult to a great yet defenseless nation. 
 The act completely demoralized the Chinese in this country, which 
 was the intention. By it twenty thousand certificates were de- 
 clared null and void, twenty thousand promises, on the honor of 
 the United States, that the holders should be allowed to return, 
 were ruthlessly broken ; and, to satisfy the clamor of irresponsible 
 bands of hoodlums led by sand-lot politicians in San Francisco, 
 the whole machinery of the government was prostituted that votes 
 might be secured, and the act was passed by Congress while the 
 treaty was pending. The action was so gross that it called forth 
 criticism from .the English press, and William M. Evarts voiced 
 his indignation in a public address, saying that "it was the first 
 time in the diplomatic history of this country of an intervention 
 by legislative action while there was a treaty, negotiated by this 
 government, pending for adoption by a foreign country." The 
 incident was considered an insult by all the Powers, who professed 
 to believe at the time, and with apparent reason, that we were 
 
AMBBIOA'B TREATMENT OF TEE CHINESE. 
 
 trying to provoke war as an excuse for taking a hand in managing 
 the affairs of China. That Mr. Sherman resented the indignity 
 thrust upon Americans is shown in the following utterance of his : 
 "If Great Britain were to act thus toward the American people, he 
 would not hesitate to vote either for the declaration of non-inter- 
 course or war." Yet there was no hidden aggressive policy in the 
 act. It was merely a-vagary of what is known as American politics, 
 where local politicians have the power, through Senators and Eep- 
 resentatives, to force action and interfere in the diplomatic affairs 
 of the Department of State. In a word, the political leaders of 
 the Pacific coast succeeded in committing the entire government 
 to an act that was a gross violation of the supplemental treaty 
 of 1880. 
 
 It is not surprising, then, that the Great Powers affected to 
 believe that the United States had ulterior motives. 
 
 It is interesting to note the dignified protest from the Chinese 
 Minister at this last outrage. He said, in a letter to Mr. Blaine : 
 
 "In my country we have acted upon the conviction that, where two 
 nations deliberately and solemnly enter upon treaty stipulations, they 
 thereby form a sacred compact from which they could not be hon- 
 orably discharged, except through friendly negotiations and a new 
 agreement. I was, therefore, not prepared to learn through the medium 
 of that great tribunal (the Supreme Court) that there was a way 
 recognized in the law and practice of this country whereby your gov- 
 ernment could release itself from treaty obligations without consulta- 
 tion with or consent of the other party to what we had been ac- 
 customed to regard as a sacred instrument." 
 
 It was a difficult matter for our astute and diplomatic Secre- 
 tary to reply to this and other letters and protests, and still pre- 
 serve the dignity of this country intact. Indeed, in some in- 
 stances the Department of State was the laugliing stock of Europe, 
 notably in the case of the Denver riots. Chinamen had been shot 
 down without cause, and a strong protest was made by the Chinese 
 Minister, who, referring to the treaty, demanded that the guilty 
 parties should be brought to Justice, pointing out that in China 
 such attacks against American citizens resulted in the beheading 
 of the guilty parties. Mr. Evarts had but one reply to make, and 
 it, was that, tinder the Constitution, "Federal authorities could not 
 interfere with the municipal affairs of a State ; hence the United 
 States government was not responsible," ending by referring the 
 Minister to the Governor of Colorado. 
 
THE NORTH AMBBICAN REVIEW. 
 
 This was a confessioii of weakness, and it was commented upon 
 by the British and German press, while the reply of the Chinese 
 Minister, made all Europe smile. His reply was that the Chinese 
 govermnent had no treaties with Colorado, hence did not look to 
 that State for Justice. In the terse epigrammatic diction of the 
 day, there was but one thing for Mr. Evarts to do, and, as a Dem- 
 ocratic paper said, he "sawed wood," and the Denver affair, so far 
 as compensation is concerned, still hangs fire. 
 
 What those who affected to believe that America was follow- 
 ing out a well-defined policy of aggression called a "long line of 
 abuses" followed, the chief of which was the Geary bill, a result 
 of Pacific coast clamor, which was intended to bundle out the 
 Chinese faster, and its form and various clauses brought many 
 protests from the Chinese Minister, which, it is needless to say, 
 were unavailing. The Geary bill was an extremely harsh measure. 
 It provided that Chinamen who were arrested must prove that 
 they were here previous to the passage of the bill, or go to prison 
 for a year, and then be deported. All Chinese laborers in the 
 States ^QTQ obliged to apply to the Internal Eevenue Collector 
 for a certificate of residence. When Chinamen landed and there 
 was any question regarding their right, and a writ of habeas cor- 
 pus had been applied for to get them ashore, no bail was accepted, 
 and they were thrown into jail — a proceeding which, if applied to 
 citizens of any of the great European powers, would have resulted 
 in war. Charles F. Holder. 
 
AMERICA'S DUTY IN CHINA. 
 
 BY JOHJf BARRETT, FORMERLY UNITED STATES MINISTER TO SIAM. 
 
 Christendom is staggered by the crisis in China. But Amer- 
 ica's duty is definite; her path is plain. 
 
 The world's policy in Cathay is the commanding question of 
 the hour. It overshadows national contrdversies regarding im- 
 perialism and the coinage of silver at the ratio of sixteen to one. 
 It is tne paramount issue in an international campaign to con- 
 serve the world-quickening forces of Christianity, Civilization and 
 Commerce. 
 
 Therefore, every American, even in this sultry mid-summer 
 month, whether leisurely resting in cool resorts or laboriously 
 earning his daily bread in city or country, should study well the 
 part America must play on this new stage of international action. 
 
 In Asia, America and the world are face to face with an un- 
 paralleled and unprecedented situation ; but America's policy will 
 be the allied world's policy, if America acts on the strength of her 
 unique position and does not shirk the impending task. 
 
 We see the United States unexpectedly summoned to meet in 
 China graver moral responsibilities than it has ever confronted 
 in the Philippines. Likewise, it is challenged by greater material 
 
 VOL. CLXXI NO. 525 10 
 
 Copyright, 1900, by The North Aiterioan Review Publishing Company. All rights reserved. 
 
THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW. 
 
 opportunities than it will ever discover in all the other undevel- 
 oped portions of the world. 
 
 In this hour of peril and through trials that shall follow, we 
 must remember that we are a Christian as well as a commercial na- 
 tion. AVe are a moral as well as a material force. We are a civil- 
 izing as well as an exploiting agency. This is a supreme test in the 
 competition of nations, in a struggle where the principle of the 
 survival of the fittest has its stern and cruel application. Possibly 
 now, as China and the allied nations of the world are in deadly 
 struggle in North China, whether with riotous hordes or govern- 
 ment forces, our Anglo-Saxon race, our Anglo-Saxon religions, 
 our Anglo-Saxon systems of society and government are at stake. 
 We cannot, therefore, quail before our responsibility. There is no 
 question of imperialism or expansion involved other than that of 
 the salvation and extension of our race and our institutions. 
 
 I do not mean that the United States shall go out of its way 
 to assume responsibilities, to arrogate to itself leadership, to 
 take ostentatiously upon its shoulders the burdens of the world. 
 Eather shall it simply perform its plain duty, as an officer in 
 battle, who, standing in a central, commanding strategic position, 
 holds the fate of his regiment in his hands and determines victory 
 by combining discretion with heroism. 
 
 I. AMEEICA'S POSITION AND POLICY. 
 
 Through all the confusion of the present and the mystery of 
 the future, there stand out these dominant considerations : 
 
 First, America is the logical arbiter of China's future ; the fate 
 of the Empire depends upon the favor of the Eepublic ; 
 
 Second, if there is a Yellow Peril threatening the White 
 World, America, more than any other Power, can lead the way to 
 rendering it colorless and innocuous; because. 
 
 Third, America is the only nation present in China to-day, 
 with force and with prominent interests, rights, and commerce, 
 which has the unqualified confidence and trust of the European 
 nations, Japan and China alike, or is not the object of long- 
 standing jealousy and distrust; and. 
 
 Fourth, an International Congress or Conference, in which 
 America for the three reasons just given should occupy a promi- 
 nent and possibly the leading part, will, in the nature of events, 
 be assembled in the near future, to consider wliat shall be the 
 
AMERICA'S DUTY IN CHINA. 
 
 attitude and policy of the nations of the world, not only in coping 
 with the great problems of the re-establishment of order, the 
 rehabilitation of the Government, the award of punishment and 
 indemnities, but in determining the future status of China's gov- 
 ernment and territory and their relation to the outer world. 
 
 With this responsibility and position, what shall America's 
 policy include? There should be no equivocation as to the prin- 
 ciples involved. Expressed briefly, the main planks in our Chinese 
 platform might be stated as follows : 
 
 1. The United States desires and should take no port, province 
 or part of China, either as a sphere of temporary influence or as 
 an area of actual sovereignty. 
 
 2. The United States, should oppose, with all its moral, polit- 
 ical and diplomatic influence, any partition of China among the 
 foreign Powers, or any delimitation _ of acknowledged spheres of 
 influence. 
 
 3. The United States should insist upon the permanent main- 
 tenance of the trade principle of the Open Door; as outlined in 
 the present Chinese treaties, throughout all China, by all the 
 Powers endeavoring to exercise influence within her limits. 
 
 4. The United States, provided the dissolution of the Empire 
 is inevitable, despite our best efforts of diplomacy and moral 
 suasion, should insist upon the guarantee, by formal convention, of 
 the Open Door principle in all the various areas of foreign sover- 
 eignty in China, and will, carefully guard against excuses for 
 discriminating duties, national rebates or subsidies, and special 
 freight charges — for the consuming powers of an increasing popu- 
 lation of four hundred millions of people and the material develop- 
 ment of four millions of square miles are involved. 
 
 5. The United States, acting with charity and equity, and 
 in no spirit of vengeance, should employ all its moral and material 
 influence in prescribing just punishment and indemnity for loss of 
 life and property sustained at the hands of fanatical and insur- 
 rectionary mobs ; in adjusting the true moral responsibility of the 
 overwhelmed government; in establishing permanent order and 
 honest progressive administration of government throughout the 
 Empire ; in safeguarding, both for the present and the future, the 
 lives, rights and holdings' of missionaries, merchants and other 
 foreign residents ; and, finally, in so preparing the way for peace, 
 order and prosperity, to be followed by liberty, justice and free- 
 
THE NORTH AMEBIOAN REVIEW. 
 
 dom under the guiding direction of Christian civilization, that we 
 shall win the lasting gratitude of the countless blameless Chinese 
 and make them forever our disciples in moral and material 
 progress. 
 
 A¥ith the future of China there are concerned four gi;eat Euro- 
 pean factors : Eussia, England, G ermany and France ; two Asiatic, 
 China herself, and Japan; one American, the United States. In 
 such a combination jealousies, distrust and bickerings may clog 
 the way to a satisfactory solution of the great problem. For in- 
 stance, which one of the first four would the other three select and 
 follow ? They could unite on none, and yet all are most friendly 
 to the United States and always willing to listen to its represen- 
 tations. Again, what non-Asiatic Power would China and Japan 
 alike trust? Only America. This was confirmed by their atti- 
 tude toward America in their late war. Toward what country 
 has China the most friendly feeling? Without doubt, America. 
 For a long time she has recognized us as the only country de- 
 siring none of her territory, and wishing to maintain only and 
 always the most amicable relations with her. Even the Chinese 
 Exclusion Act has cut little figure in Chinese- American relations, 
 for its operation has been felt only by a small portion of Chinese 
 in the southern part of the Empire. My theory is simply that the 
 United States is the one nation, from its remarkable strength of 
 position, that can exercise the vigorous moral influence and leader- 
 ship in the coming negotiations of the Powers, which will a^ure 
 the settlement of the present crisis, first, with strict justice and 
 honor to all nations concerned, and, second, with no selfish scram- 
 ble for territory that will lead to the violent break-up of the Em- 
 pire and the ultimate shutting of the Open Door. 
 
 To some, in describing America's prominence and in emphasiz- 
 ing the importance of the crisis, my words may seem those of 
 enthusiasm or exaggeration. Some years' diplomatic experience 
 in Asia may make me speak feelingly, but not rashly and incor- 
 rectly. Conditions, not imagination, inspire my conclusions. 
 
 II. THE OPEN" DOOE AND PARTITION. 
 
 Expressed plainly, America has everything to lose and nothing 
 to gain by a divided China; equally true is it that America has 
 everything to gain and nothing to lose by an undivided China. 
 
 With China actually partitioned among the foreign Powers, 
 
AMERICA'S DUTY IJf CHINA. 
 
 or nominally divided into spheres-of influence, we can still have 
 the Open Door. It will exist, however, with the ever-present pos- 
 sibility that actual sovereignty would eventually close the door 
 through discriminations or rebates in duties or freights. Pos- 
 session, moreover, is nine-tenths of the law, and agreeL.ients made 
 in troublous times of Chinese sovereignty may not be held always- 
 sacred in times of European sovereignty, especially if new inter- 
 national complications shall develop. 
 
 America's chief market in China is now found in Manchuria 
 and in the provinces inclosing the Gulf of Pechili, the scene of the 
 present revolution. Throughout this area we have so far had the 
 Open Door and been able to sell our manufactured cotton goods in 
 successful competition with the rest of the world. We have de- 
 veloped our sales of cotton textiles from $1,600,000 to over 
 $10,000,000 in the last ten years. If the Open Door is main- 
 tained, we shall build up this trade tenfold or more. On the other 
 hand, if Eussia, Germany or some other Power assume 
 sovereignty, there is the imminent possibility of the cotton manu- 
 facturers of those countries demanding preferential railway or 
 steamer rates, which will annul the force of any agreements. 
 They may even demand of their respective governments that these 
 agreements shall be cancelled. This would not be done without 
 protest and difficulty, but when the first international complica- 
 tion arose, or when, for instance, retaliation in trade relations 
 might be necessary, there would be a change of tariffs and duties 
 that might shut out the American product. 
 
 Here the Southern States have vast concern. The new in- 
 dustrial prosperity of Dixie has its opportunity largely in supply- 
 ing manufactured cotton goods to China. The closing of that 
 field of consumption permanently would bring vsddespread de- 
 pression to the South. 
 
 This is only one illustration. The same story might be true of 
 a French sphere in Kwang-tung, Kwang-se and Yun-nan; of a 
 Japanese sphere in Fuh-keen; of an Italian sphere in Che-keang; 
 of a German sphere in Shan-tung, although we must give these 
 countries credit for assurances that they will follow the policy of 
 the Open Door. 
 
 Great Britain has gone so strongly on record as favoring the 
 Open Door, and has so faithfully proved the honesty of her inten- 
 tions by her policy in her dependencies, that we need have little 
 
THE NORTH AMBBICAN REVIEW. 
 
 worry about the future of the great Yangtsze Valley. Unfor- 
 tunately, however, our interests and opportunities there are not 
 so large as in the sections which might go to countries that have 
 not proved their good faith through both preachings and practice 
 during an extensive period of years. 
 
 While describing the possible dangers of a partition of China, 
 let us be fair and give due credit to other countries. Let us not 
 forget that in the Eussian territory of Eastern Siberia and in 
 Manchuria, where Eussia now is apparently evolving a sphere of 
 influence, American trade is rapidly developing, and that there is 
 a vast field there for legitimate exploitation. If the conven- 
 tions which Eussia, Germany and France have signed with China, 
 in regard to certain ports and parts of the Empire, include terms 
 which would seem to be in violation of the spirit and letter of our 
 treaties with China in the matter of "the Open Door and equal 
 privileges and rights, -there has not yet been any test case of im- 
 portance to prove that there is discrimination against us. 
 
 Great Britain has been the pioneer in the Open Door move- 
 ment, but only two years ago she was appealing in vain to us for 
 eo-operation to prevent alienation of territory and to protect trade 
 rip'^+s. Lord Charles Beresford forewarned us of present events, 
 but excited no interest beyond a cordial reception. With the 
 hope of stiiTing up political passion, certain demagogues denounce 
 any possible sympathy of the United States with England in the 
 latter's Chinese policy. This is done in face of the fact that, 
 wherever English authority is paramount in Asia, there are order, 
 prosperity and a fair chance for everybody and all nations — unless 
 nature, in the form of famine, brings unrest. In Hong Kong, 
 England has demonstrated how successfully she can lead the 
 Chinese to their and her advantage. 
 
 Eussia has worked mighty changes in Eastern Siberia. She 
 generally has extended to America a welcoming hand in com- 
 merce. She announces Dalny, formerly Talienwan, as a free port 
 and gateway to Manchuria. Germany proclaims that there will 
 be no discrimination at Ching-taou, or Kiao-chow, against the 
 merchants and sMps of other nations. 
 
 The masterly diplomacy of Secretary Hay has, furthermore, 
 secured recent assurances, from all the Governments interested in 
 China, that American rights will be permanently safeguarded. 
 If the Powers are sincere, we can be hopeful of the future, but 
 
AMEBIC A' 8 BUTT IN GHINA. 
 
 the treachery of international complications often renders mean- 
 ingless diplomatic notes exchanged in a friendly hour. 
 
 If, by the inevitable force of world-events, China is to be 
 despoiled of her territory, then let this same diplomacy of John 
 Hay, or his successor, obtain from every nation securing sovereign- 
 ty over a part of the Empire a lasting agreement, in unqualified 
 terms, that America shall have in perpetuity the same rights of 
 trade therein as are granted not only to the most favored nation, 
 but to the sovereign power itself. Let this agreement not be con- 
 fined to a diplomatic note, nor to an exchange of intentions with 
 happy felicitation, but let it be a binding convention, formally 
 signed and sealed. 
 
 In this connection, there occurs this vital consideration: 
 In all reasonable probability there is not a Power that will refuse 
 to be a party to such a treaty, if America firmly presses the point 
 to consummation. There is also the cardinal thought in this 
 whole question, that stands out like a beacon light : No power will 
 insist to the limit of force upon the division of China, if America 
 protests with all its moral resources against division. 
 
 III. THE GOVBENMEKT'S ATTITUDE. 
 
 In this world-crisis, where races, religions, institutions are at 
 stake, America's policy in China should be supported by Demo- 
 crats and Eepublicans alike. 
 
 The partisan plea that President McKinley's unremitting 
 efforts to protect American life and property in China may lead 
 us into war with some European Power is not well founded. There 
 is little probability of our being embroiled, either in a single- 
 handed or in an international war, if we follow our definite duty 
 in the plain path before us, and do not shrink from the unavoid- 
 able moral responsibilities which are imposed upon us as a Chris- 
 tian nation, having vast interests at stake. We can afford to do 
 our allotted work in China because our moral strength is admit- 
 ted, and our moral and material interests demand it. 
 
 We shall need, as we are now exercising, broad diplomacy in 
 adjusting to a nicety the Chinese situation. We are fortunate in 
 the past achievements of the State Department; we, therefore, 
 have confidence for the future. President McKinley, Secretary 
 Hay, and their subordinates, have already won the confidence of 
 the European Powers and Japan, and the lasting gratitude of 
 
THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW. 
 
 China, in the policies they have promulgated previous to the pres- 
 ent revolution. 
 
 Since the first cry of distress and warning of disaster came 
 from Peking, the Government has left no stone unturned to 
 rescue the lives of our Minister and his family at Peking, and of 
 missionaries and merchants in the same disturbed locality. Im- 
 mediately following Mr. Conger's request for marines, they were 
 dispatched with all haste to the capital. Then followed, as the 
 danger of the situation developed, an unremitting endeavor to 
 send reinforcements. All that were available were forwarded. The 
 unfortunate contingencies of a typhoon in Manila Bay, the neces- 
 sity of not weakening materially the force in the Philippines, the 
 difficulties of approach to Tientsin and Peking, the distance of 
 Taku from Manila and from the United States, cannot be set 
 down at the door of the Administration. A careful survey of 
 everything done since notification came to Washington from the 
 only authoritative source, the legation at Peking, will show that 
 the President cannot be held responsible for the reported disaster 
 to foreigners at the capital. 
 
 We cannot blame the American residents of Shanghai, in their 
 earnest desire for the protection of American lives and commerce, 
 for using urgent terms in appealing to the Government to do 
 everything in its power in this difficult situation, but if the Gov- 
 ernment has met that responsibility to the best of its ability, 
 its efforts should be justly appreciated. 
 
 It must be remembered, moreover, while public sentiment is 
 so deeply stirred, that every other Government, if there is blame, 
 is as deeply involved in it as the United States. If Eussia, with 
 her force at Port Arthur, Great Britain at Wei-hai-wei, Germany 
 at Ching-taou, and Japan with her unlimited resources near at 
 hand, could not rescue their envoys, why should Americans sug- 
 gest that the President could have saved the Minister of the 
 United States? It must not be forgotten, also, that the foreign 
 representatives themselves at Peking were, in a measure, responsi- 
 ble for the inability of their respective countries to rescue them. 
 Had they made appeals for force earlier, these would have been 
 honored. ITo request of Minister Conger, in this respect, has ever 
 been pigeon-holed or disregarded by the State Department. 
 
 May I not here suggest that our possession of the Philippines 
 — which the anti-imperialists so strenuously oppose as criminal 
 
AMERICA'S BUTT IN CHINA. 
 
 aggression, but which others, who spent long years in Asia and 
 were in the Philippines during the development of the present 
 situation, honestly believe are ours simply as a result of our 
 courageously meeting unavoidable moral responsibilities, com- 
 plicated by an insurrection inspired by ambitious leaders and 
 the enemies of the United States — has enabled us to cope with 
 the present Chinese situation in time, manner and force which 
 would not have been possible without our presence there. Despite 
 the failure of the allied troops to reach Peking in time, our 
 record has been to our credit, pride and honor in the competition 
 with other nations. Under other conditions, we would have been 
 entirely dependent upon other Powers, and possibly treated by 
 them with patronizing kindness or negative indifference. Our 
 soldiers have been in the front lines of attack and defense, and 
 we have done our part as a first-class Power in the presence of 
 overwhelming responsibilities. 
 
 But if there is any doubt in the minds of some men about our 
 policy in China, let there be no misunderstanding about terri- 
 torial aggrandizement. Once and for all, we want no part of China ; 
 we will take no part of China; we demand only the Open Door 
 and protection for the lives of our representatives, missionaries 
 and merchants, under conditions of reform and progressive 
 government. 
 
 Even visions of coaling stations and a northern rendezvous 
 for our Philippine naval squadron must not tempt us at 
 this hour into an equivocal position on this vital consideration. 
 If we should weaken one jot or tittle, our influence in Asia would 
 lose its healthy force. The confidence of Europe, the trust of 
 Japan and the respect of China would then be forfeited. E"oth- 
 ing could save the integrity of the Empire, and the hinges of the 
 Open Door would be oiled for the closing. 
 
 IV. A McKINLEY DOCTEINE IN ASIA. 
 We have a Monroe Doctrine in America; shall we not have a 
 McKinley Doctrine in Asia? This is said in all seriousness and 
 without a suggestion of political bias. No matter how much 
 some men oppose the President's Philippine policy, either in 
 honesty of conviction or in zeal of party fealty, the permanent 
 protection of life and property, the well-being of missionaries and 
 merchants, the vast moral and material interests of the United 
 
THE NORTH AMEEIOAN REVIEW. 
 
 States, and a high degree of patriotism should inspire them to 
 support his Chinese policy — not only the policy of the moment, 
 but that which he has already initiated in recent negotiations 
 with the Powers. 
 
 Shall not the McKinley Doctrine in China mean that America 
 shall stand with all its strength for the permanent maintenance 
 of the Open Door in China — an open door through which the 
 diplomat and the traveller, the missionary and the merchant, the 
 engineer and the educator, shall pass and re-pass forever in safety ? 
 
 As corollary to the main proposition, shall not the McKinley 
 Doctrine in China mean that America shall stand with all its 
 legitimate moral influence to prevent any Power whatsoever, mon- 
 archial or republican, acquiring sovereignty over any extended 
 part of the present unpartitioned area? And, possibly, in the 
 growing power and name of our good land, this use of moral 
 influence, to the full extent of its lengthening tether, may in a 
 peaceable way accomplish as much in Asia, as the use of moral 
 and armed force, which the Monroe Doctrine involves, can accom- 
 plish in America. 
 
 Then, with the Monroe Doctrine shutting out Europe from 
 governmental control of the Americas, and with the McKinley 
 Doctrine opening up the vast markets and material opportunities 
 of Asia to the United States, it may be indeed difficult to deter- 
 mine which doctrine will confer the most direct and lasting bene- 
 fits on the largest number. 
 
 Commerce is the life-blood of nations. The commerce of Asia 
 may yet be needed to give us the strength to conserve the gov- 
 ernments and commerce of the Americas. The McKinley Doc- 
 trine in the Pacific and China may provide the sinews of war 
 to defend the Monroe Doctrine in the Americas. 
 
 V. CHINESE EESPONSIBILITY. 
 In judging the responsibility of the Chinese people and gov- 
 ernment for these uprisings and massacres, we must be stern but 
 not vengeful. We must find all of those who are guilty and 
 punish them as they deserve. While the world is not in a 
 mood to forgive the Chinese government for its compromising 
 course with the so-called Boxers, it must remember that this has 
 been a riotous movement, which has developed force and apparent 
 organization as a snowball grows into an avalanche, and over- 
 
AMSJBIOA'8 DUTY IN OHINA. 
 
 whelmed both the government that temporized with it and the 
 foreign forces that strove to check it. If the authorities had 
 crushed it in its inception we would have heard little or nothing 
 of it. Unfortunately for themselves and for the outer world, 
 they let it go on, as sometimes we have even known American 
 officials to do with mobs, until it was beyond control. 
 
 There is no question that recent seizures of territory by foreign 
 Powers, particularly those in the Shan-tung and Liao-tung Penin- 
 sulas, have had a baneful effect. Moreover, anti-foreign officials 
 in the interior, taking advantage of this foreign invasion and of 
 their personal hatred of the missionaries, have even fostered the 
 publishing of misleading placards about missionaries and other 
 foreigners. They are largely responsible for the internal excite- 
 ment. The widespread famine prevailing in North China has 
 greatly aided the development of anti-foreign feeling. Lack of 
 rain and failure of crops have been blamed upon the foreigners by 
 Boxer agitators. The Boxers themselves are simply an organized 
 anti-foreign body of men under a new name, who have excited 
 the masses. 
 
 In dealing with them the Central Government made the cardi- 
 nal error of compromising with them, instead of putting them 
 down at first. Even such capable foreign representatives as Min- 
 ister Wu at Washington, Minister Conger at Peking, and Consul- 
 General Goodnow at Shanghai, did not seem to understand this 
 mob movement and realize its strength until, like a flood started 
 by a cloudburst, it was breaking through all barriers. What was 
 the effect on the masses at a critical moment of bringing marines 
 to Peking, of the capture of the Taku forts, of the reported burn- 
 ing of the Tsung-li-Yamen by German soldiers, of the alleged 
 failure of the envoys to leave Peking when ordered, cannot yet be 
 accurately told, but it would now appear to have added fuel to 
 the flame. 
 
 In this connection, it is well to note the strong words of the 
 Americans expressed at their mass meeting at Shanghai on July 
 18th. Their appeal included this significant conclusion : " The 
 present outrages are the result of the weak and vacillating policy 
 of the Powers in the past." 
 
 If the Powers have hesitated in the past, they will be staggered 
 with the work now before them. The reorganization of the 
 Chinese government on lines of modern progress will be a mighty 
 
THE NORTR AMEBIOAN BEVTJEW. 
 
 undertaking, of which the outside world has little conception. 
 China is not lacking in able men; but conservatism, custom and 
 tradition have figured so prominently in all administrations 
 through centuries that radical changes and new methods will not 
 be welcomed, and will be opposed by officials and masses alike. 
 
 VI. MISSIONARY AND MATEEIAL INTERESTS. 
 
 Of the missionaries in China I have much more to say in 
 praise than in censure. I do not sympathize with the superficial 
 criticism often found in the treaty ports and expressed by pass- 
 ing travellers against them. They are doing far more good than 
 harm. For years it was my privilege to study carefully their 
 work in Siam, where over one hundred were under my jurisdic- 
 tion; and in frequent visits to China I noted the methods and 
 results of their labors there. 
 
 The sujm and substance of the anti-missionary sentiment 
 among the ignorant Chinese is this : the corrupt local officials are 
 opposed to the missionaries, because the Chinese who are taught 
 or converted by them know what is just and right, and de- 
 mand it. Perhaps the matter goes up to the Viceroy for com- 
 plaint through the Taotai or Consul and back again. This makes 
 trouble for the official, and causes him in revenge to wink at anti- 
 foreign agitation and the publication of malicious posters. When 
 we withdraw our missionaries from Asia, then let us withdraw 
 our ministers and merchants. The missionary interests of the 
 world in China are too vast, too widely ramified and too deeply 
 rooted for any foreign government to suggest that they shall be 
 withdrawn from China. Then above all is the supreme considera- 
 tion that the forces of Christianity which have been struggling for 
 centuries in Asia cannot consider now for a moment the possibility 
 of retreat and defeat. 
 
 Many may honestly differ with me in my opinion of missionary 
 work, but I cling to the faith of our fathers, confirmed by long 
 experience and observation in Asiatic city and jungle. 
 
 What has the world materially at stake in China? What has 
 America at stake there? These questions are frequently pro- 
 posed by those who, in the rush of other matters, have not here- 
 tofore studied China. In former contributions to the Review I 
 have endeavored to point them out. Though summarized briefly, 
 some of those which are important and suggestive of wide possi- 
 
AMESlOA'a DUTY IN CHINA. 
 
 bilities are here noted. China, with 400,000,000 people, in 
 4,000,000 square miles, has only 400 miles of railway, but needa 
 in the near future 40,000 miles. Her foreign trade is $333,000,- 
 000 per annum, an increase of one hundred per cent, in ten years. 
 America's share, including Hong Kong, is $43,000,000, or one- 
 eighth, in the mere infancy of its development. China's per 
 capita trade, with greater potential resources than Japan, is less 
 than one dollar, against Japan's six dollars. Apply the latter's 
 ratio to China's population and we have the magnificent possi- 
 bility of $3,400,000,000. There are mighty waterways, rivers 
 and canals to be improved, dredged and bridged; coal, iron, gold, 
 copper, tin and silver mines to be developed; numberless cities to 
 be provided with waterworks, sewerage systems, electric lights 
 and street railways; telegraphs and telephones to be extended; 
 roads to be built, and countless increasing millions supplied with 
 food, clothes and other growing wants of peoples coming into con- 
 tact with the outer world. 
 
 In the face of these immeasurable opportunities, the improve- 
 ment of which will bring vast benefits to capital and labor in 
 America, who is willing to suggest that we shall retreat and leave 
 China to the control of European nations? 
 
 In conclusion, I may be pardoned for quoting the final words 
 of an address which I had the honor to deliver before the Shanghai 
 General Chamber of Commerce on the 13th of January, 1899 : 
 " I beg of you, in Judging America's policy in the Far East, to 
 remember that these closing days of the nineteenth century are 
 times that try men's souls, when all nations are unsettled in policy 
 and uncertain as to what t>8 future will bring forth. There is 
 confusion in the minds of the people and doubt in the thoughts 
 of statesmen. The United States has its share of trial and 
 tribulation. But there will soon be an end to it all, when the 
 sunshine of peace and certainty must break through the dark 
 clouds of polities. Let us hope that this day may soon come 
 and bring with it such decision as will promote the comity, pros- 
 perity and well-being of all nations, American, European and 
 Asiatic." John Barrett. 
 
Price 25 Cents 
 
 CHINA 
 
 AGAINST THE 
 
 WORLD 
 
 Reprinted from 
 The North American Review 
 
 L— duses of Anti-Foreign Feeling; in Qiina 
 IL— The Straggle for Reform fn China - 
 III. — Missions and Missionaries in China 
 IV.— America's Treatment of the Chinese 
 v.— America's Duty in China - - - 
 
 - George a Smyth 
 - Charles Johnston 
 
 - Pooltncy Bigelow 
 
 - Charles F. Holder 
 
 John Barrett 
 
 ^EW YORK: 
 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW PUBLISHING CO. 
 
(Reprinted from The North American Review) 
 
 Copyright, 1900, by the 
 North American Review Publishing Company 
 
 All Rights Reserved 
 
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