ASIA .♦« Crown STORIES OF THE CHINESE MARTYRS BY M rs. B RYS N OF TIENTSIN # WITH SIXTY ISLUSTRATIONS QJarneU HntoBtsttg Hibrarg 3tl|ata. New ^orh CHARLES WILLIAM WASON COLLECTION CHINA AND THE CHINESE THE GIFT OF CHARLES WILLIAM WASON CLASS OF 1876 1918 lA ' DS 771 5^B9l" """"^'^^ ^""^'y ^'°^Hiw!iim,?lili'!f," -Stories of the Chinese DATE DUE 3 1924 023 150 828 ■iAH^ «^' - CAYLORO MIINTCO INU.t.A. THE GOD OF WAK AND BOXER ALTAR IN YEN-SHAN CITY. (See pa^e 136.) CROSS AND CROWN STORIES OF THE CHINESE MARTYRS BY MRS. BRYSON (of TIENTSIN) WITH SIXTY-FOUR ILLUSTRATIONS iL n ti n LONDON MISSIONARY SOCIETY NEW BRIDGE STREET, BLACKFRIARS, E.C Trade Agents MESSRS. SIMPKIN, MARSHALL, HAMILTON, KENT & CO., LTD 'fa W. 3o3 butler & tanner, The Selwood printing Works, frome, and london. y PREFACE AT 7"HEN I was at home on furlough, and met many of the young ' ' people who will, I hope, read these pages, the Rev. Arnold Thomas, of Bristol, and many other ministers and Christian workers, told me they thought the heroic deaths and sufferings, for Jesus' sake, of so many Chinese con\'erts ought to be put on record. The story, they said, was a legacy to the church universal, which should not be lost, but should be treasured right down the ages, like the record of the persecutions of pagan Rome. No costly memorials have been erected above their graves ; many of the martyrs never even received burial, their ashes being thrown upon the \\dnds ; but their memory will never die in the land of their birth so long as the Christian Church grows and thrives in Chinese soil. I have only had space for a very few stories, though they could be multiplied more than ten times over. And I have written only of our London Mission Christians (with the exception of one or two cases which are specially mentioned in the chapter — " How the Youth of China Died for Jesus "), as I thought these would be specially interesting to the young people for whom this book is prepared. I owe much to the kind help of all my colleagues in the North China Mission for so abundantly supplying me with materials from 6 PREFACE their own districts, and for carefully inquiring into every case. I am grateful also to those who have helped me to obtain photographs for illustrations. My special thanks are due to Mrs. Biggin, of Peking, and the Rev. D. S. Murray, of Tsang-chow, for their sympathetic interest and help. The more time I have given to this work, the more grateful I have felt to the Lord of the Harvest for the wonderful testimony thus given to His blessing on the woik of Missions in China. We know that God is with us, for otherwise it would not be possible for martyrs to be won for Christ. And since God is with us, the day is at hand when the broad provinces of China shall call Jesus King. And surely some of the young people who read these pages are coming soon to help to gather in the great harvests which now, more than e\er before, wait for reapers on the soil consecrated by the blood of the martyrs. Mary I. Bryson. London Mission, Tientsin, North China. May, 1904. CONTENTS CHAP. I. The Nobi.e Arjiy of JIartyrs II. Who were the Boxers ? . ... III. Two Brave Chinese Girls. IV. How THE Children of China Died for Jesus V. A Faithful Pastor ..... VI. Chang Yung and his Wife VII. The Fiery Trial of the Peking Christians VIII. Through the Storm in Tientsin IX. How they Died for Christ in the Yen-shan District X. Be.\ring the Cross in the Chi-chou District XI. Some Devoted Preachers XII. In Perils Oft ..... XIII. The Story of an Imperial Bannerman XIV. After the Storm ..... page • 13 • 23 • • 33 . 49 65 77 • 89 III District 131 • 153 161 171 187 19;- LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS The Chinese Characters on the cover signify " A Record of Tribulation.' The God of War and Boxer Altar in Yen-Shan City . .Fron'i The Madagascar Martyrs A View over the Roofs, Tientsin A Busy Street in Peking The late Rev. J. Stonehouse in Chinese Dress A Real Live Boxer Temple of the City God at Yen-Shan A Wall Worshipped as the Abode of the Spirit of the Fox Wun-e and her Family Chwun (" Ma-li ") Making Lace at Chi Chou Corner of L.M.S. Compound, Tientsin, Showing Tower of Walford Hart College Children of Mr. Bryson .and Mr. Rees in the Mission Compound, Tientsin Mrs. Tai, the Present Teacher of Mrs. Bryson's Girls' School, Tientsin ... .... Mrs. Chen, Mother of Wun-e ..... Chinese Buddhist Priests .... Students at the Tientsin College .... Mr. Yang Feng-Hsiao, now Evangelist at Ts.ang Chow A Corner of Peking City . Mr. Liu Feng-Kang, Tutor of Theological College, Tientsin P.ASTOR Shao A Chinese Farmyard and Threshing Floor Mr. Hwang, Hospital Assistant to Dr. Arthur Peill A Street in Peking, with Memorial Arch erected in Honour of Baron Ketteler, killed in 1900 .... Mr. Chang, with his Wife and Child ..... The Great Wall of China ..... Mrs. Biggin Prince Su, in whose Palace the Native Christians were Sheltered The Water-Gate through which the British Troops Entered Peking . . . . Missionaries Engaged in the Defence of the Legation . PAGE spiece IS 16 17 19 24 26 2S 34 35 37 38 40 45 51 56 58 60 6s 66 70 72 78 79 83 90 92 93 95 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Peking Christians .... ..... Adjiir.'VL Seymour's Expedition Returning to Tientsin . A Corner of the British Legation Wall, showing Inscription cut by ORDER OF the BRITISH ^IlNISTER A Foreign House in Tientsin wrecked during the Siege . Street in French Settlement after Siege of Tientsin . Rev. T. Bryson .\nd Mr. Edmund Cousins The W,\rehouse in which the Native Christians Found Shelter A Hero of the Tientsin Siege The Relief of Tientsin. Arrival of Japanese Troops . Ruins of Ma-Chia-Kou Chapel, Tientsin De.\con Wang, of Tientsin Dr. Peill .\nd Mr. Murray Tr.avelling to Yen-Shan on the Grand Canal General Mei Christian Women .at Yen-Shan before the Outbreak . Rui.NS OF L.M.S. Chapel .AT Yen-Shan . . . . . Children of ]Marty'red Christi.\ns .\t Yang Chia-Ch,\i Mrs. Jen .and her Children . . ' . Survivors of the Christian Community at Yang-Chia-Chai B-\by's First Journey- on the Grand C.\nal A Christi.\n Book .\nd Tr.\ct seller The Chi Chou PosT^L\N General Jen, a Friendly Offici.\l in the T Mr. Tsui, Preacher at Tung-Chia-Chuang A Sailor Boy on the Grand Canal . Mr. Chang Jung Mao A Peking C.\rt. .... Two Preachers in the Chi Chou District In .\ Chi.xese Crowd . A Chi.nese Grandpapa The Emperor of China In the Native City, Peking A Peking Street Protector of the Christians Gate of INIission Pre-\uses at Tung-Chia-Chuang His Excellency' Liu Chih-Ting, who Saved our Tsang-Chow Mission .^ries Rev. S. D. :\Iurray on Tour Among the Villages in the Tsang-Chow District .... Deacon Wang, of Yang-Chia-Chai Deacon Wang (Standing by Tombstone of Seven jNIembeks of his Family Killed by Boxers) ....... sang-Chow District PAGE 97 99 104 112 113 114 IIS iiS no 121 125 133 137 143 145 146 I4S 154 156 157 162 164 166 172 174 175 178 iSi iSg 191 194 198 199 201 202 204 206 High honour theirs, to prove Still stands redemption' s sign ; Not lost the type of love. Not quenched the martyr line. Ensor. Safe gathered Home, around Thy blessed feet, Come Home by different ways from far and near. Whether by whirlwind or by flaming car. From pangs or sleep, safe folded round Thy seat. Christina Rossetti. CHAPTER I THE NOBLE ARMY OF MARTYRS CHAPTER I THE NOBLE ARMY OF MARTYRS T CAN remember well a book that had a great fascination for me -*- when I was a child. It was not a beautifully bound or artistic- ally illustrated volume, such as are prepared for young people now- a-days. Its covers were not of bright-tinted cloth, decorated with gilt designs, but it was dressed in sober colours and the illustrations were crude and inartistic. The title of this book was Foxe's Book of Martyrs, and the pictures it contained were from the original designs. Many of them, though strange and uncouth, told a wonderful story of what men and women and even little children would do and dare for the sake of Christ our Lord, and how they would rather die than deny Him. I used to curl myself up in my father's old arm-chair and read without weariness, and with many a thrill of admiration, of all that the good and great of past ages had suffered for Jesus' sake. First there were our Lord's own disciples, the men who were His closest companions while on earth, and some of whom wrote for us the story of His wonderful life. In nearly every case these men suffered martyrdom. It was like writing their names in blood at the foot of the Gospel story. Then after them, for several hundred years, from Nero's time to the reign of Constantine, thousands upon thousands of Christians »4 CROSS AND CROWN died for their Lord. And they did not simply die ; they suffered deaths of terrible agonj^ tortured with every refinement of cruelty which spirits of evil could suggest to their persecutors. I used to read of the school-boy Pancraticus, the bright young martyr whose name has been perpetuated in one of our London churches (St. Pancras), and of Agnes, the sweet girl martj^r of Rome, who counted it pure joy to die for her Saviour. Then I read of Latimer and Ridley, and how by God's grace they were enabled to " light such a candle in England as shall never be put out." In those days of my childhood the martyrs were all people known only in the pages of history. I never dreamed that I should ever reckon as my own dear friends people who would be called to pass through such fiery trials. Yet in the green English meadows, starred with daisies and buttercups, I used to ask myself sometimes what would happen if I were called upon to suffer as these people had suffered. Should I prove faithful as they had been ? Or fearful of the bitter anguish, should I choose a coward's life in place of a noble death ? The martyr stories continued right down the centuries, till at last, in the pages of our own Juvenile Missionary Magazine, I saw a sketch of what was happening even then to followers of Jesus. It was only a rough wood-cut, but it imprinted the fact upon my memory for ever. A band of Malagasy Christians stood bound at the top of a great precipice. One by one, as they refused to give up their faith, they were hurled from the rock and dashed to pieces before the very eyes of their companions who awaited the same fate. The years rolled by, and God called me to work for Him in distant China. One bright January day found me sailing through the lovely THE NOBLE ARMY OF MARTYRS 15 Inland Sea of Japan and past the rock of Peppen- berg, from whose steep chffs in former years the Christians in great numbers had been dashed to pieces. It reminded me of the stories of my childhood ; only now they were coming nearer, almost into my own life. When I reached China and settled down with my husband in a great Chinese city, I soon saw that the Chinese Christians had not a path of roses to tread, but suffered much from petty persecutions, because they refused to worship the false gods. Near my first home in Central China, without the city gates, where in the spring-time the fragrance of the bean flower scented the air, and the yellow garlic and dwarf lilac blossomed wildly, there were some grassy mounds, beneath which tradition said lay buried the remains of the Romish missionaries, the first workers in the city where my husband was the first Protestant missionary. They had been cut down within the court of the Viceroy's yamen many years before. We thought such scenes would never recur, though riots and the stoning of missionaries, THE MADAGASCAR MARTYRS. (From the Juvenile missionary Magazine.) i6 CROSS AND CROWN were not uncommon, as we on several occasions ourselves ex- perienced. Nearly ten years later our station was changed from the banks of the great Yang-tse-Kiang to the shores of the Gulf of Peh-chili. Every one has heard of the Tientsin massacre which had occurred about twelve years before. The people of the great city, wild with anger on account of evil rumours which had been spread abroad, declaring that the Romish nuns had been kidnapping the children in their orphanage to use their hearts and eyes for making foreign medicine, rose and put to the sword every one of the nuns and many other residents. Several times I visited the scene of the massacre, which was a large, quiet compound, entered from a busy street. Loving hands had erected a marble pillar at each spot where a sister had fallen. Some of A VIEW OVER THE ROOFS, TIENTSIN. THE NOBLE ARMY OF MARTYRS 17 them were outside among the green grass, others close together within the ruined aisles of the church, where they had fled for refuge. But we thought that these days had passed away for ever, even though at times wild reports shook the ciiy that the Christians were irritating the gods and preventing the fall of rain, or cutting off men's queues and causing them sudden death. Other reports accused A BUSY STREET IN PEKING. them of kidnapping children to place their bodies beneath the railway sleepers or the girders of railway bridges, or to obtain fresh medicine from their bodies. As time passed on I came to know and love many Chinese Christians. Some of them filled my heart with joy, for I knew them to be earnest workers and valiant confessors of Christ. 1 8 CROSS AND CROWN I would look into the faces of others, and wonder sometimes whether they really understood what it meant to be true followers of the Lord. My want of faith was rebuked, for some of these very people proved faithful in the face of cruel agony and even death itself. Among the martyrs, a few of whose stories I have told in the follow- ing pages, were school-girls, whose bright young faces had been dear to me for years, and women who had come week after week to my Mothers' Class, and whose hfe stories had often awakened my sympathy and pity. There were young men also who had come regularly several times a week to an English class I carried on for the benefit of the theological students and hospital helpers. Among the foreign missionary martyrs also there were many who were dear friends of my own. There were Mr. and Mrs. Dixon, who with several others were hunted for weeks into dens and caves of the earth. They endured hunger and pain and weariness, and then by false promises were lured out of their hiding-places only to be cut down in the citj? gate. " We are quite sure if we die there are many more who will come out to fill our -places ^^ said Mr. Dixon just before the end. There was Horace Pitkin, whose last message, sent by a Chinese Christian a few hours before he fell with hands uplifted in prayer, was — " Tell my wife that I want Horace, when he is twenty-five years of age, to come out to China and carry on the work I am called to lay down." There was Miss Coombs, the brave Birmingham High School mistress, who went back into the burning school-house to rescue a little lame scholar. She was beaten back into the flames by the cruel mob, till she ascended in that fiery chariot to her reward. There were Mr. and Mrs. Piggott and their thirteen-year-old laddie. Mr. Piggott preached till the very last when cut down with so many more in the blood-stained courtyard of the cruel Governor at Tai-yuan-fu. THE NOBLE ARMY OF MARTYRS 19 Mrs. Piggott held the hand of her httle son, even after the spear had fallen, which quickly took his young life also. There was Joseph Stonehouse, of our own L.M.S., who was on his journey of compassion, carry- ing relief to the district in which he had so long laboured. It was a perilous task, but one which he gladly undertook to relieve their necessities. He was shot down, pierced with many bullets, giving his life for the people he loved. The stories of these noble martyrs, and many more of our own countrymen and countrywomen, have been told by others. In this book I wish to tell you only of the undying faith, " triumphant over death," of our Chinese brothers and sisters. These native converts have sometimes been called " rice Christians " ^HHK Tv™^^7' w7?w^^H^^^^H|^H ■ |H^^HK> 'sS^^Hi^^^^^l^^l H ■fenlwiu'^^^^^^ \ ^^^^ \ZruT ^^ 19 "1 bF^^v w^- ft 1! / ^ 1 ^Km/m < i ''^^tffli^BJ nH^^H^^HK-^^^HBI^ V s:- -^ STi ^a^Hs"^^^ ^^^Mhb i^ijiw wm 1 1 ^HB .B jlSlKV 'kHHH HH THE I.ATE REV. J. STONEHOUSE IN CHINESE DRESS. 20 CROSS AND CROWN by those who know nothing about them. This phrase means those who join a rehgion for their Mving, merely to make gain out of it. The following pages will, I hope, make clear to you that our Chinese Christians are as faithful as the martyrs of old, and that right down the ages God gives His people power to live and to die for Him. The majority of the martyrs whose stories are told here belonged to our own mission, but some striking instances have been included of converts belonging to other English or American Missions, for all are known alike by the name of members of the " Jesus sect." I have only given j^ou a few cases, but they could be multiplied over and over again, for the Boxers' deadly spears shed the blood of thousands of native Christians. " The blood of the marlyrs is the seed of the Church,^' it was said of old ; and already we see signs of a great coming harvest. It is my earnest desire that some of the boys and girls who read these true stories may in years to come help to gather in the rich sheaves of the Lord's harvest in China. May many of you say from your hearts : — As labourers in Thy vineyard Send us out Christ to be ; Content to bear the burden Of weary days for Thee. We ask no other guerdon When Thou shaft call us home, But to have shared the travail Which makes Thy kingdom come. CHAPTER II WHO WERE THE BOXERS ? CHAPTER II WHO WERE THE BOXERS? IT is natural that those who read of the sufferings of the Chinese martyrs should ask : " Who were the Boxers, and why did they rise against the foreigners and the native Christians ? " They were a body of people calling themselves by a name meaning " United Fists." Hence they were dubbed Boxers by the Foreign com- munity. They were not heard of in England till igoo — that 3''ear of bloodshed and terror ; but in the interior of China they had been active more than a year before. The Rev. W. Hopkyn Rees, of Chi Chou, one of our large inland districts, says : " It was in the spring of 1899 that the Boxers reached our district, after a wild career in the province of Shantung, where loot and murder marked their path. The_v seemed to have made up their minds to destroy all the Missions on the way to the capital, where it was said they had friends in high circles whose behests they were obeying." On three occasions they surrounded our Mission compound at Hsiao-chang, and ladies and children hid together for safety in one room, the men meanwhile doing sentry duty. The native Christians stood valiantly by the missionaries, and the storm seemed to pass over. In the autumn the movement broke out again with renewed fury, and four hundred Christian families were looted and fined. 24 CROSS AND CROWN A REAL LIVE BOXER. Imperial soldiers were sent to defend the Mission, and they routed the Boxers at several points. Early in 1900, how- ever, the Chinese Im- perial Government joined in the movement, which was led by Prince Tuan and General Tung- Fu-hsiang, and the soldiers were withdrawn from the Mission. This course was taken because the Empress Dowager and her advisers had decided to drive all the " foreign barbarians," as they were called, out of the country. Ulti- mately the Empress issued the fatal pro- clamation commanding the officials to destroy every foreigner and all Chinese in any way connected with them, adding that if they tried to escape they were to pursue and slay them. WHO WERE THE BOXERS ? 25 It is declared on very high authority that the young Emperor was utterly opposed to this action. He fell on his knees and implored his great-aunt 'with tears not to publish the proclamation, but she laughed him to scorn. Two high officials in Peking, who were wise beyond the rest, seeing the grave danger to China of such a course, took upon themselves the enormous responsibility of altering the word meaning " destroy " to another meaning " protect.''' Before this alteration was discovered many lives had been saved, for it gave time for large numbers to escape to the coast. But the brave officials themselves were condemned to a cruel death. Then the terrible order was circulated throughout the Empire, and is said to have caused the death of over 5,000 Protestant Christians, and over 20,000 Roman Catholics. In this province of Chih-li alone, 1,150 Protestants were massacred, and over four hundred of these were members of our London Mission churches. Besides these native Christians, the number of foreign missionaries put to death was 188, including many children. These numbers would have been very much larger but for the fact that in many centres there were brave and enlightened Chinese officials who risked their own lives and their future chances of promotion to save the strangers from afar, and hurry them out of the country. As we have seen, for more than a year the north of China had been in a state of great discontent, and there is no doubt that the Boxer rising expressed to a large extent the general unrest of the people. Several European countries had seized large portions of the Empire, and Chinese officials were constantly reading translations of articles in foreign papers discussing the " Break-up of China," and allotting various portions of the country to different European powers. Natur- ally this exasperated even those officials who were friendly to the foreigners. 26 CROSS AND CROWN There were also other causes of unrest. The Chinese beheve that the repose of the dead is essential to the prosperity of their living descendants. They looked, therefore, with dismay upon the numerous railways projected in all parts of the Empire — the mining operations which they thought must disturb the spirits of the earth, TEMPLE OF THE CITY GOD AT YEN SHAN. {The Priest standing near the entranee was one of the Boxer leaders.) and the network of telegraphic wires which they felt certain would trouble the spirits of the air. Drought had devastated large tracts of country for several years, and it was beheved the gods who gave rain were witholding the season- able showers because many of the people had become Christians and WHO WERE THE BOXERS ? 27 no longer worshipped at their shrine. Tliis idea was confirmed by the fact that in several cases, within an hour or so after the missionaries had been driven out of cities, heavy showers of rain came on suddenly. But by far the larger portion of tlie Boxer armies were people who preferred a roving and plundering mode of life to earning their own living in a commonplace way. In many districts all law and order were done away with, and even common labourers, if men of strong will, led the regiments, ruling with a rod of iron. Much superstition was mingled with what was called the Boxer drill. It was believed that the men became inspired with the spirits •of ancient gods. They fell on the ground and foamed at the mouth. They became rigid, and in that condition were riot affected if boiling water was poured upon them or needles pierced their flesh. They believed themselves invulnerable, and when any Boxer soldiers were killed, it was declared that it was because they had not fully yielded themselves to the inspiration. Young women and girls, generally so closely guarded in China, and confined to their homes, joined the " United Fists," and were called the " Red Lantern Girls." It was beheved that they had the power to discover and set on fire buildings in any way connected with foreigners. The people, as a whole, were like frightened children to whom weird ghost stories had been told. They would look closely and long at the red ball of the setting sun, and then, when turning away their eyes, they naturally saw the glowing circle appear on the grey background of the clouds : that also was considered a miraculous indication, spur- ring them on to further deeds of violence. The chief Boxer centres were in Buddhist Temples. They wor- shipped the fox, the pig, the weasel and other animals. The god of war, the patron saint of the present dynasty, was also universally worshipped. It was at these shrines that the hearts of Christians 28 CROSS AND CROWN were constantly offered by the Boxers as gifts acceptable to their deities. People at home are amazed and horrified at the tortures and hideous deaths inflicted upon the martyrs. They would not feel so surprised if they had stood, as I have done, in the court of a temple A WALL WORSHIPPED AS THE ABODE OF THE SPIRIT OF THE FOX. {The strips of paper have been put up by worshippers.) where large numbers of Christians had been condemned, after a mock trial, because they refused to burn incense at the idol shrine. On either side of this court are groups of figures representing the tortures of the Buddhist hell. In successive pictures, formed of clay, brilliantly painted, we see a man surrounded by demons engaged in tormenting him. The terrible groups of figures are too frightful for WHO WERE THE BOXERS ? 29 me to describe in detail, but I will mention a few. Here you will see a man thrown on a hill of knives ; another is being sawn asunder ; and yet another is having his tongue or heart torn out. Another is bound to a brass pillar, heated red hot, or is boiled in oil or pounded in a gigantic mortar. I have often seen these groups in the temples in various Chinese cities; but as I walked round one the other day, on the very spot where so many of our brave Yen-shan Christians witnessed a good confession, I felt it was easy to understand how these terrible groups, in their own temples, suggested to the Boxers the awful torments which the Christians suffered at their hands. CHAPTER III TWO BRAVE CHINESE GIRLS CHAPTER III TWO BRAVE CHINESE GIRLS I HAD only been a few days in Northern China, and was hardly accustomed to the mud-coloured aspect of everything on the banks of the Pei-ho. It seemed as if one would never see green grass again, but only the bare earth, the leafless trees, and the mud houses. A great contrast it all seemed to the green valley of the Yang-tse,which had been for so long my home in Central China. Our dear senior colleague, the late Rev. Jonathan Lees, had given us the warmest of welcomes to the station where he had so long held the fort, and in his cheery way was pointing out to us what he considered the beauties, of the land. He was jirst taking us over the new chapel which he had recently built and showing us the additional rooms for church work he had erected. " I did not know that 3'ou were coming when I planned this place," he remarked, " but I felt we must do something more for the women and girls. We have never yet had a Girls' School in Tientsin, but here is the room for you to start one in, and the Bible woman. Fan Nai-nai, is all on the qtn vive to hunt up pupils for you. There is any amount of work waiting for you here, and God bless you in the doing of it ! That was the beginning of the first Girls' School in Tientsin, opened in the spring of 1885. Mrs. Fan worked her hardest and succeeded in getting promises from the parents of fifteen little girls that they 34 CROSS AND CROWN should come to the school opened by the foreign " Mother Teacher." Two of the girls, who were special friends, were called by the Chinese names " Chwun," and " Wun-e," which may be translated " Spring " and " Literary Virtue " ; so I have sometimes called Wun-e my " clever girl," and Chwun my " lassie of the spring." In WUN-E AND HER FAMILY. [Wun-e is seated on the right.) after years Chwun usually went by the name of " Ma-li-ah," or " Mary," as, like some other girls in China, it pleased her to adopt a Christian name. I can see their faces now as I gaze back in memory through the mist of years. Chwun had a delicate face and sparkling eyes, with a TWO BRAVE CHINESE GIRLS 35 look of determination about the lines of the small mouth She was exceedingly bright and had the gift of inducing most people to jneld to her wishes. Wun-e was a different type of girl altogether. Her gentle brow was badly scarred with small-pox, that scourge of Chinese CHWUN ( 'MA-LI ") MJIKINTG I ACE AT CHI CHOU. Tiomes, so she was not pretty like Chwun. But she had a most attractive character. She was a girl one could thoroughly trust, and had a clinging affectionate nature. Wun-e was the daughter of the head dispenser in the hospital so 36 CROSS AND CROWN long associated with the beloved names of Mackenzie and Roberts, now under the care of Dr. Smith. Chwun's father was a chapel- keeper at the city church, near the Drum Tower. Both their mothers v.'ere Christian workers. In after years they became typical Chinese girls of the new type which the religion of Jesus is developing in China, thoughtful, and taking an intelligent interest in all matters of Church life, " just as if they were men ! " But I wish to write of Chwun, the wee girl I knew fii'st in 1885. One day I was making inquiries of Mrs. Fan and the school teacher about the little pupils, and discovered that Chwun had to walk a dis- tance of five miles to school and back every day. Worst of all, she possessed the " golden lilies," or tiny bound feet, which at that time even the children of Christians had to endure. " But how can she possibly manage to walk all that distance on those poor cramped feet ? " I asked my Chinese helpers. " Well, j'ou see," replied Mrs. Fan quickly, " Chwun has been longing to go to school for years, and when she heard we were going to open a Girls' School here, she immediately said she would come ; and she generally gets her own way ! " " But I can't bear to think of her taking that long walk everj^ day," I said. " Oh, well," replied the women, " I don't suppose she ever walks all the way. Some of her father's friends pull ' jinrikshas,' and none of them would refuse to give Chwun a lift any day." We had decided that I should commence the school upon the principle that no bribes would be offered. Yet I felt I mirst do some- thing to help this enthusiastic little pupil, so I decided to give her the price of a " riksha," for one way, every day. I longed to give it for both ^va^^s ; but one has to be so careful not to use money too freely in China. TWO BRAVE CHINESE GIRLS 37 Soon afterwards I heard, to my comfort, that Chwun had succeeded in getting jinriksha men wilHng to take her both ways for the trifling sum I allowed. She came to the school regularly ; neither wind nor rain kept her away ; and it was a pleasure to see her proud, bright face as she i^-M.-H^ifi'-' ' -'~~~ CORNER OF L. M. S. COMPOUND, TIENTSIN, SHOWING TOWER OF WALFORD HART COLLEGE. repeated her lessons. I gave the school-girls patch-work quilts to teach them sewing, and Chwun arranged hers into very fanciful designs, and soon learned to knit. The next year a school was opened at the Drum Tower Chaptl 38 CROSS AND CROWN by Mrs. Lance, a lady who during the two short years before she laid down her life for China, worked unwearingly and lovingly for the women and girls at Tientsin. In memory of her beautiful life, old pupils in England erected a fine mission house in Tientsin for lady workers of the L.M.S., which is known as Wilton House, the name being that of Mrs. Lance's old school in Birmingham. It was now no longer necessary for Chwun to come the long distance to the Ma-chia-kou., so I saw but little of her. But she frequently sent me little embroidered Chinese trifles as presents. A few years later, a great change occurred in the life of Chwun's family. They removed to the country district of Hsiao-chang, where her mother became Bible-woman to Mrs. Rees. As the girl grew older, the promise of her early years was fulfilled She had long been a true Christian girl, and though she was not without faults of temper, and no more perfect than most English lassies of her age, she was never so happy as when helping Mrs. Rees in her home or in Christian work. Her clever fingers delighted in making foreign garments, as well as knitting, and Chinese embroidery. On her occasional visits to Tientsin, Chwun often stayed in the home of Wun-e, and was a great favourite with all the young girls connected CHILDREN OF MR. BRY30N AND MR. REES IN THE MISSION COMPOUND, TIENTSIN. TWO BRAVE CHINESE GIRLS 39 with our Tientsin churcli. Slie was always anxious to learn any new thing, and on one of her last ^'isits she learned from her friend Wun-e the mysteries of lace-making, in order that she might teach this industry to the women of the country district. About two years before the Boxer rising, after a New Year's feast to which we had in\'ited the students of the Theological College, I offered several prizes for an essay on the subject — " How can we best lead Chinese women to Christ, and how can we influence the Christian women to become aggressive Christian workers ? " The competition was open to all our helpers and indeed any of the Christians. My idea in giving this subject was to induce our young preachers and teachers to think out for themselves the importance of winning the women for Christ. Each essay was to have a motto attached, and not the writer's real name, so that the friends who acted as judges would be quite impartial in their decisions. x\mong these essaj^s was one which puzzled the judges not a little. It was not written in the high classical stvle that educated men con- sider necessary, but it was so full of detail and helpful suggestions, apparently the result of the writer's own experience, that it was felt it certainly deserved the second prize, though from a literary point of view there were others superior to it. When the names represented by the mottoes were disclosed, it was found that Chwun (or Ma-li, as she was now called) was the winner of the second prize, and we learned that the essay was largely a record of her own experiences. At the time I wrote down a free translation of her essay, and so can give a few extracts from it : — " A worker among women," she wrote, " should seek every oppor- tunity possible to get them to listen to the glad news. If they can- 40 CROSS AND CROWN not come to her, she must go to them. I have known a worker go •down to the underground rooms where the women are busy with their weaving. The Bible stories can then be told while the women con- tinue at their work. Then when girls are making artificial flowers, or in other ways busy with their fingers, they can be told of the love of Jesus and will gladly listen. Christians are said to be the salt of the earth in the Bible, and since that is the case, we ought not to keep 'Ourselves apart from those outside the church, but should seek their ■company, in order to teach them the doctrine. " Then any Christian woman can ask friends to come to her house when the day's work is over, and they can have singing and prayer together. I know a house where four women and four girls always meet in this way. On Sundays, when people come together for the services, it is a good day to teach, as well as to hear the Gospel. We should not let our lives be like an empty needle without thread. A good plan is to sing some well-known hymns and then talk over the meaning of the words. This stirs the hearts of all and makes them grow stronger in the faith." By this time Ma-li was about twenty-four years of age and still unmarried, for her father being dead, she was said to rule the household, and alwa5/s persuaded MRS. T.M, THE PRESENT TEACHER OF MRS. ERYSOn'S girls' school, TIENTSIN. TWO BRAVE CHINESE GIRLS 41 her mother to put off the " evil day " when she must leave her old home for another. But at last a betrothal was arranged for her with a young preacher who belonged to a well-to-do family in the district, and it was agreed that the marriage should soon take place. Mrs. Rees was about to take her children home to England just at this time, and Ma-li worked unceasingly at the outfit of her little favourites and seemed hardly to care at all about her own trousseau- When she said good-bye to them all in the spring-time of 1900, no one thought it was a last farewell. They had lived through more than a year of Boxer attacks in the Mission compound at Hsiao-Chang and thought that the time of trial was past. But one day, in the bright spring-time of 1900, an urgent telegram called the missionaries to flee for their lives to the coast, and the Chinese Christians were advised to scatter themselves and seek safety in distant villages. Ma-li and her husband were too well known to escape. They were seized, along with other Christians, and carried off by the Boxers. For some time they were held as prisoners, as it was believed their friends would purchase their release. They suffered many indignities, and had little hope that their lives would be spared. At last they were released, but the high-spirited Ma-li never recovered from the strain and horror of that terrible time, and died soon after. " She did not die with the sword as so many did," said one of her Chinese friends to me, " but all the same the Boxer cruelties caused her death. She was just worn out, utterly exhausted by the long-continued horror of it all, and had no strength to rally." All who knew her mourn the loss of a life so bright and useful, swept down like so man}? others by the terrible storm of the Boxer rising. 42 CROSS AND CROWN And what of my " Clever Girl," Wun-e ? I remember well the day on which I was told of the betrothal of the gentle Wun-e to a student who had never seemed to me an attractive character. He was an orphan without friends, who had been kindly cared for by one of the missionaries, but he was not industrious and often caused his tutors much anxiety. Why had the parents given their eldest gentle lassie to a man who, as it seemed to me, was quite unworthy of her ? I made this remark at the time to one of the Bible-women, and she replied, looking at matters from the typical Chinese point of view, " Well, you know, they could not expect to have much choice when arranging for her marriage, when her face is so scarred with small-pox." " But why should they be in such a hurry to marry her ? She is always bright and busy in the home ? " I inquired. My Bible-woman's horrified expression reminded me that I was in a land where a mother's first duty is to marry her children ! I shall always remember the wedding-day. There was Wun-e in her crimson bride's dress with the red veil over her face, and her girl companions all gathered together, as well as many other friends, both native and foreign. The little bride looked sad, and I did not wonder, since marriage for her meant leaving the city that had been for so long her home. A few days after, the young couple went off to live in Peking, for her husband, Mr. Li, was to assist the Rev. J. Stonehouse in the West City Mission. The young wife won golden opinions from the missionary lady, for she was evidently a true Christian and one who desired to help in the work. Her husband, on the other hand, was often a source of anxiety to those with whom he worked. He never seemed to put his heart into his teaching. Young Mrs. Li, as time passed on, came down now and then to visit TWO BRAVE CHINESE GIELS 43 the old home. She used to appear in the place she had formerly occupied at the services and attend the women's meetings. She grew in grace, but from her mother's remarks I feared that her husband's cold-heartedness tried her sorely. The young couple had only resided in the capital about three years when the evil rumours which preceded the Boxer rising began to be circulated. It required real heart-faith in Jesus to be known as a Christian then, and Mr. Li often thought it would be a wise plan to make his escape before the trouble came, for he was not of the stuff of which martyrs are made. Just three days before the blaze of burning chapels crimsoned the midnight sky, Li made his way out of Peking. Perhaps he was un- willing that his Christian friends should know his plans, for instead of placing his j'oung wife under the care of the missionaries or other Christian friends, he arranged that she should stay with people with whom he was only slightly acquainted. A few days afterwards, these people became alarmed at the pros- pect of suffering agony if they kept a Christian under their roof ; so they turned the poor girl out into the street, in the dark night, telling her to find refuge where she could. She stood there alone, on the blood-stained streets of the Chinese capital, a lonely girlish figure, and leaning her head against the mud wall she wept bitterly. The night was close and hot, but silence had not fallen upon the great city as was its wont in quiet times, for away on the slopes of the ancient walls, the Boxers shrieked and shouted for the blood of the Christians. Nearer at hand she could hear the monotonous beat of the bamboo, as the watchmen struck the hours, like the hand of Time which was slowly beating out the remaining hours of her young life. Standing there she thought of her old home in the row of Chinese 44 CROSS AND CROWN buildings looking out upon the mission compound in Tientsin. Then she looked upward to the glorious stars of the Chinese night. They seemed to whisper to her that though she was forsaken and alone in this terrible city, One cared for her, and her desolate heart rested in His love. Just then the Lord sent her a special token of His love and cai"e. An old woman named Shieh, who with her husband had lived for some time near the mission premises, came seeking the forsaken girl. She and her husband were both advanced in years and they had no children. Thej' had been attracted by young Mrs. Li's gentle ways and determined to offer her a place of refuge. " Come with us," she whispered, " come and be our daughter. We will care for you and no one shall harm you." And the old woman put her hand in motherly fashion on Wun-e's trembling shoulders. " No, no," replied the girl, though her sad heart warmed at this token of kindness. " If I come I shall only bring trouble and sorrow upon you, for every one about here knows I am a Christian. They will rob and kill you if they find me under your care. Why should I care to live ? They say Tientsin has fallen into the hands of the Boxers and all the Christians are killed. My father and mother and all my foreign friends have been slain. Why then should I live to give trouble and pain to others ? " But at length, by their kindly persuasions, the old couple over- came Wun-e's reluctance, and through three weary weeks, while Liiperial troops assisted the Boxers in besieging the Legations, and shedding the blood of God's people, she was safely sheltered in their quiet home. At last her retreat was discovered by a young workman who some time before had been a scholar in the Mission Day School. We have so many instances of lads like him being true disciples of the Master, TWO BRAVE CHINESE GIRLS 45 faithful even unto death, that we feel amazed at the tliought of this lad betraying the young Christian wife. A Boxer soon came to the house and arrested Wun-e on the charge of being a Christian. The old couple who had sheltered her wept sore. " Don't admit that you are a Christian," they entreated her. " Consent to burn just one stick of incense at the idol shrine. It is only such a little thing, what can it matter ? You will be released at once then. Though your dear ones in Tientsin may be dead, we will protect you and be father and mother to you, for we love you ! " One likes to think that the poor girl's last hours were cheered with loving words like these, but they could not change her settled purpose to confess her Lord. She was hurried along on a cart to the Boxer h e a d - quarters for that district. One can picture the girlish figure in the midst of a crowd of mr;. chen, mother of wun-e. 46 CROSS AND CROWN fierce-looking men and boys, maddened by the blood they had already shed. In answer to all their questions she answered quietly, " I am a Christian. I believe in Jesus. I cannot burn incense to idols." Apparently some of the Boxers were inclined to spare her life. She was so brave and calm that they were half afraid to harm her. " We do not believe she is a Christian," some of them said. " Her neighbours say she is not," referring to the testimony of the old people who had sheltered her. Others said, " See, there is no fear in her face. No, she is not a Christian ! " " That is not true," rephed Wun-e calmly. " I have been a Christian for years. I belong to a Christian family. My father has long been head dispenser in Dr. Mackenzie's hospital in Tientsin. My husband and my brother are both preachers, and my mother and father teach the doctrine to others. No one can doubt that I am a Christian too ! " At this they all shouted with rage and declared she was not fit to live. " How did your girlie die ? " I asked Wun-e' s mother yesterday. I had never asked her these particulars before, for I have felt it heart- breaking to have to speak to the relatives about their dear ones' sufferings. " They did not give me all the particulars of her death," the mother answered sadly. " It was not merely that she was beheaded, but there were sufferings too terrible to speak of. They said it was better I should not know." " When I first heard of all she suffered," continued the good woman, " I felt as if my heart would break, but afterwards, when I thought about it calmly, and heard how brave a confession she had made, and how fearless she was in the face of death , I felt glad that my girl had proved herself a true witness for Christ the Lord." CHAPTER IV HOW THE CHILDREN OF CHINA DIED FOR JESUS CHAPTER IV ■ HOW THE CHILDREN OF CHINA DIED FOR JESUS A MONG the large number of Chinese Christians who refused to ■^ ^ save their hves by burning incense at the idol shrines, choosing death rather than denial of their Lord, there were many children and young people who had learned to love the Saviour in our Mission Schools. As many as fourteen of the scholars in the Yen-shan Boarding School suffered martyrdom. One of these was a bright girl named Shen-chieh. During the time she spent in the school she became interested in the Gospel and gave her heart to Christ. She came from a heathen family and her teachers were very hopeful that in time she might be able to win many of her relations for Jesus. When the troubles broke out, the whole district of Yen-shan was soon thronged with Boxers. Fearful of being arrested, Shen-chieh with her mother and sister wandered homeless for ten days, lying down in ditches by the waj/side at night, or hiding among the thick mazes of the tall millet, or sorghum, which grows so' plentifully over this great North China plain. At last they were all three captured by the Boxers. Standing up bravely the child Shen-chieh did her best to save her mother and sister. " They do not belong to the Jesus rehgion," she said. " It 49 D 50 CROSS AND CROWN is I alone who am a Christian. If you wish to kill me, I am quite ready to die; but let them escape." At first the cruel persecutors seemed to be touched by the little girl's brave pleading and told her relatives that they might flee for their lives, while they worked their will upon the brave young Christian. Shen-chieh's sister was fleet of foot and made her escape into the waving millet-fields ; but the poor mother, who was fifty years of age, was quite overcome by the thought of the danger threatening her young daughter. She trembled with fear and was unable to move. At once the crimson-clad Boxers unsheathed their murderous blades and began to thrust at and wound the elder woman. Shen- chieh threw herself upon her mother's bleeding form and strove to protect her, receiving in her own young body the cruel thrusts of the spears. The bystanders remember that the child cried out in a loud, clear voice, first to her Lord, and then to her mother ; but in a very short time the voices of both the mother and her brave little daughter were stilled in death. Han Yu-lan was a lad of seventeen years of age, the son of one of our Bible women, and a scholar in the Yen-shan Boarding School. He was a quiet boy, his teachers say, not brilliant, but faithful and diligent in all his work, and he gave promise of becoming a most useful helper in years to come. Like many of the Christians, Yu-lan sought safety in flight while the Boxers were searching in the neighbourhood of his home, for they had determined to destroy the homes of all the converts and leave not a single Christian alive in the district. Houses were razed to the ground, shrubs and plants torn up by the roots, and even the domestic animals hunted to death. In one village, it is said, a poor little kitten HOW THE CHILDREN OF CHINA DIED FOR JESUS S3 \vas hunted all day by the whole population because it had belonged to a Christian family, so determined were they to destroy everything. The Boxers hunted their victims like bloodhounds, and one day as he emerged from the shade of the tall kao-liang (a kind of grain) which sheltered so many of the homeless followers of Jesus, Yu-lan found the Boxers upon his track. He was close to the white walls of a Buddhist temple, and in his extremity took shelter there. The priest in charge of the temple turned out to be a kindly, com- passionate man, who took pity upon the poor hunted Christian lad. When the Boxers had passed on their way, unconscious of the escape of a victim, the priest insisted that Yu-lan must at once sub- mit to having his head shaved, and don the robes of a Buddhist priest, the better to escape detection. The boy was very reluctant to adopt such a disguise, but worn out with fatigue and hunger, he at last con- sented to comply with his protector's request. He remained in hiding in the temple, unsuspected by those who sought his life, for nearly a month. But the Boxers had their spies everywhere, and at last it was dis- covered that a Christian lad was living under the protection of the Buddhist priest within the heathen temple. It was at once decided that both the lad and his kind-hearted friend should be seized and suffer together, for the Boxers had determined to make it impossible for any one to befriend the Christians for fear of the consequences. They marched in force to the temple and seizing the lad commenced to bind him. But the priest of Buddha interfered. " This boy is under my care," he said. " What right have you to molest him ? What harm has he done ? " The anger of the persecutors was at once aroused. " You defend and protect him, do you ? " they exclaimed, — " a boy who is well known in the district as a member of the hated Jesus sect ! Then 54 . CROSS AND CROWN you shall suffer with him. You, a priest of Buddha — just as if you were one of the secondary devils ! " Immediately they seized the yellow-robed priest and in fierce anger cut him down with their swords, in his own temple, in the pre- sence of the poor lad he had so generously shielded. The Boxers evidently expected that this action would strike terror into the heart of the young Christian fugitive. They had determined before they put him to death, to make him reveal under torture the names of other members of the Jesus religion. So they carried the poor boy off to the city to one of their headquarters, and there for two days they tortured Irim with all the refinement of cruelty with which the Chinese are familiar. But the noble young Yu-lan steadfastly refiised to betray his fellow Christians or to tell the direction in which they had fled. On the third day, finding it was quite useless to continue their attempts to extort from him any testimony that could be used against his friends, the Boxers' sharp swords released him from his prolonged agony, and he was set free to join the noble army of martyrs in the Better Land. Among the many young people who suffered for their faith there were not a few who had been trained for some time past in the village schools supported by some warm friends of missions in Sheffield. Among these was Liu Lien-Teng, a lad of sixteen years of age, who lived in the village of Wen Chuang, in the district of Ching-yuen. When the Boxers surrounded his home, and seized him and bound him fast, he lifted up his young head bravely and in a clear voice sang — "My home is in Heaven, my home is not here. Then why should I murmur when trials appear ? Be hushed, my sad spirit ; the worst that can ccme But shortens my journey and hastens me home ! " HOW THE CHILDREN OF CHINA DIED FOR JESUS 55 The band of Boxers broke out into mocking laughter. " Your home is not here ! " they cried. " We will soon see if that is true or not. We will make your home here for ever, down in the grave ! " Then they fell upon him with their swords, and at once the young Christian passed to his home above. This lad's mother had escaped to the home of her relatives, who were not Christians. When she heard of her boy's noble death, her heart seemed broken. She wept without ceasing, and her friends, fearing that they would fall under suspicion on account of her over whelming grief, drove her from the shelter of their home. She wandered about for some days in the kao-liang lields and in desert places, but was at last captured by the Boxers and speedily released from her life of weariness and grief to join her boy in the land where there is no more sorrow or crying. Another lad, who was known in the Mission by the name of Timothy Wang, lived in the village of Li-meng-yang, which was visited in past years by Dr. and Miss Roberts, who took great interest in the little church which was founded there. Timothy at the time of the Boxer rising was about seventeen years of age, and had been in the Boarding School for a time. He was a bright earnest Christian, and whenever during his holidays he went back to his village home, it was his custom to gather together the women and children under the shade of some spreading tree or on one of the numerous threshing floors, and tell them the wonderful stories of the Lord's life on earth, how He healed the sick and raised the dead and comforted the sorrowful and heavy laden. In this way many, who would not otherwise have heard the Gospel preached, learned something of its wonderful meaning from Timothy's lips. There were a number of Christians in this village of Li-meng-yang, 56 CROSS AND CROWN and one day in the terrible summer of igoo the Boxers de- termined to come down upon them in great force. They formed themselves into a line two miles long and marched to the village, with the intention of sur- rounding it, so that not one of the Christians might escape. Sometimes the poor hunted be- lievers were not seized all at one time, but a mark was made in front of their dwellings, or their door-posts were marked with chalk, as a sign that the inhabitants were doomed to death. On this occasion, Timothy and his young brother made an attempt to escape, but the Boxer ring was drawn round the village so closely that this was quite impossible. The two boys were seized and bound by their persecutors and with other Christians were driven along under the blazing summer sun to the nearest market town in which the Boxers had their headquarters. They were taken outside the STL'DEXTS AT THE TIE.\TSIN COLLEGE. HOW THE CHILDREN OF CHINA DIED FOR JESUS 57 city gate and prepared for execution, while the curious unsympatlietic crowds pressed round, eager to see the Christians die. In a quiet calm voice Timothy asked if he might kneel down and pray to his Heavenly Father before he died. The Boxers roughly gave their consent. It was a strange sight, — the earnest boy convert kneeling there in communion with his Lord, while the persecutors thirsted for his blood. They soon grew impatient, and before Timothy rose from his knees he was cut down by their cruel swords. His young brother was killed in the same way a few minutes later. Another Boarding School lad of sixteen years of age who bravely suffered for his Lord, was Hao Shu-teh. When standing in the midst of the crowds which thronged his place of execution he exclaimed, " I am not afraid to die ! Though you may kill this body of mine, you can do no harm to my soul." This lad was killed with spears. His body was buried by friends, but soon after the Boxers disinterred it and burnt it to ashes, fearing that the lad would rise again. The persecutors had, in many cases, some strange distorted ideas about Gospel truths, such as the resurrection. Sometimes the martyrs' bodies were not allowed to be buried for three days, with the idea that, like their Lord, they might in that time be restored to life. In other cases the poor remains were burned and the bones ground to powder, with the idea that so they might prevent any resurrection. In several of the North China Missions at the time of the Boxer rising there were young men in training colleges preparing to be native preachers and helpers to the missionaries. They had the advantage of having received a better education and a deeper training in Divine truth than had been the lot of some of the older Christians, and very CROSS AND CROWN nobly did many of them witness for their Master, seahng their tes- timony with their blood. One of these students, of the name of Tou Lien-ming, was a member of the senior class of the Peking University, connected with the American Methodist Mission. Only a few months before the great persecution broke out he and many others in our North China Missions had received a great blessing during some revival services which were largely attended by all native Christians of the various Churches. One of our missionaries has compared this time of great spiritual blessing to the " sealing " of the servants of our God in their forehead mentioned in the Revelation before the Great Tribulation. As we look back upon that time it does truly seem as if God had been preparing the converts by a special outpouring of His Holy Spirit for the trials they were to endure. Just before the troubles broke out, Mr. Tou returned to his country home, and it was there that he was called upon to lay down his life for the Name's sake. He was captured by the Boxers and hurried off, as MR. YANG FENG-HSIAO, NOW EVANGELIST ^^^ ^^^^'^ CUStOm, tO a AT TSANG cKcw. hcathen temple, where he HOW THE CHILDREN OF CHINA DIED FOR JESUS 59 was ordered to burn incense to the idols and bow his head in obeisance before them. This he steadfastly refused to do. " He is truly a devil of the second class ! " jeered the crowd which always assembled to witness the sufferings of the Christians. " I am not a devil," replied Tou quietly. " What are you, then ? Explain to us ! " they persisted. " I am a Christian — a follower of Jesus," he answered. As his persecutors continued to torment him with mocking phrases he boldly continued to preach to them salvation through Christ ; pointing out to them what it meant to be a Christian. "Kill him! kill him!" shouted the exasperated mob, just as in the streets of Jerusalem of old the rabble clamoured for the death of his Master. " No ! no ! " decided the Boxers ; " we cannot kill him here in front of the temple ; let us take him to the street set apart for the slaughter of the foreign devils." The excited mob crowded and pressed upon the brave young sufferer as he walked calmly on to his death. He preached to them all the way as he trod that path of sorrow, imploring them to j'ield to Jesus and accept His offered salvation while there was yet time. Some who were in that crowd have told, since the troublous time has passed, how they felt pierced to the heart and would fain have saved the Christian had it been in their power to do so. When the moment of death came, Tou looked calmly at his murderers and said in a clear, quiet voice, " Though you can destroy the bodies of the Christians you can never destroy our souls. Hereafter we shall live eternally in the Saviour's presence." Then the bright swords flashed in the sunshine, as with many strokes they sent to his heavenly home this brave young martyr of Jesus Christ. 6o CROSS AND CROWN The Principal of the University, who tells his story, adds that the noble death of Ton Lien-ming made a deep impression on his fellow- students. They spoke of it as a grand triumph over death and the grave. When tears filled the eyes of one of the lady preachers to whom the students were relating the story of Lien-ming's faitlifulness, A CORNER OF PEKING CITY. they exclaimed, " Do not weep ! Do not weep for him ! Think what a glory it was to die like a man, bravely bearing witness for Christ to the very last, rather than, like many others, to be cut down in the streets, without an opportunity^ of witnessing for the Lord. We should all be glad if our deaths could be like that of Tou Lien-ming! '* HOW THE CHILDREN OF CHINA DIED FOR JESUS 6i At Tung-chow, near Peking, where the American Board have a large college and several schools, many of the boys suffered martyr- dom and the premises were totally destroyed. The Boxers themselves related the story of how two little lads of thirteen and fourteen years of age met their death. They suspected the children of being Christian scholars, so they asked, " Are you believers in the foreign faith ? " " Yes," replied the children quite boldlv, " we are followers of Jesus." The persecutors brought out cords to bind them, with a view of dragging them to the Boxer altar. " There is no need to bind us," said the boys. " We will not try to escape. Every step that we take towards your altar is a step nearer heaven." In a few moments their young lives were sacrificed to the Boxer swords. The persecutors were constantly amazed at the behaviour of the Christian children. They speak of it often and add — " Thej^must have been bewitched by the foreigners." In a district where the Methodists are working, near to Tientsin, a school boy named Wang Chih-shen was seized by the Boxcts. He was told that if he would worship the tablets his life would be spared. The head men of the village united their entreaties in persuading the lad to deny his faith. If he would only do this little thing, they said, they could save his life and secure his release. Life is sweet to the young, but the brave boy answered, " I cannot do it ! I cannot do it ! Not only should I be disobeying God, but if I did it I should never feel I could look my teachers in the face again." So the noble 3'oung Wang was quickly put to death. Among the many who perished in Manchuria, where for a long time the Scotch and Irish Missions have been working with wonderful 62 CROSS AND CROWN success, was a girl of fourteen years of age, the daughter of Li Ku-tang, a brave martyr who preached Christ to his persecutors while they mutilated him. After her father's death this girl, who was his only child, fled away, carrying with her a copy of the New Testament. Her friends urged her to burn the Holy Book, as they knew, if she were searched, it would betray the fact that she was a Christian to the Boxers. They said if she would burn the book they would hide her in their houses and give her food. But she refused to part with her sacred treasure and ran off into the tall millet. It seemed possible that she might escape, as she was unknown to the persecutors who had so barbarously taken her father's life, but after a time the bloodthirsty searchers discovered the child's hiding- place. The only \\'itness against her was the Book which she carried within the folds of her blue cotton tunic. She was dragged to the place of execution and questioned, while the mob with cruel faces pressed round her. " Are you a Christian or not ? " they asked. Quietly she answered that she was a believer in Jesus. The child stood up with brave fearless face before her persecutors. Amazed at her calm behaviour, some of them shouted out, " Aren't you afraid ? " " Afraid or not," she replied simply, " it is all one ! " Then with a smile upon her sweet childish face she met the sword which cut down her young life and passed into the presence of the Lord she loved. CHAPTER V A FAITHFUL PASTOR CHAPTER V A FAITHFUL PASTOR WE have in our Mission in Tientsin a Tlieological Scliool which has been in existence for the last thirty years. Its purpose has been the training of young Christian Chinese to be evangelists, teachers and preachers to their own countr3^men ; for native helpers are sorely needed in large numbers, to work under the direction of the missionaries all over this great harvest field. This College, which will always be associated with the beloved name of the Rev. Jonathan Lees, its founder and for rnany years its sole " professor," could boast of no fine buildings or expensive educational outfit. But some of the men who went out from that primitive college had caught much of their tutor's enthusiasm for souls— his gift of fluent speech, and his tenderness over the sinful and erring ; and several of them during the Boxer rising witnessed a good confession, and laid down their lives for the ^^ ^^^ feng-kang, tutor of theological Master's sake. college. Tientsin. 65 E 66 CROSS AND CROWN Mr. Shao, of Yen-shan, was one of the first of these students ; and when the call came to him to receive the martyr's crown, he had served the Lord in the L.M.S. churches of North China for more than thirty years. Shao and his brother were paper-lamp makers by trade when they first heard the Gospel, and though both of them could read a Uttle their education was as backward as is that of most men of the lower classes in North China. Shao was an eager learner, and his New Testa- ment became his con- s t a n t companion. As is so often found to be the case, the new spiritual life in the man's heart quickened his intel- lect and he grew rapidly in knowledge. When the sons be- came Christians, all the old heathen practices were given up in the home, as far as they were concerned, and this greatly enraged the mother. The future preacher was the eldest son of his widowed mother and was her chief support. She was an energetic woman of considerable char- acter and ruled the house. She induced Shao's wife to unite with her in opposition to his new faith, so that peace fled from the home. PASTOR SHAO. A FAITHFUL PASTOR 67 An Englishman would find it difficult to understand the absolute power of a Chinese mother over her son. It is quite allowable, accord- ing to Chinese law, for a man to put his son to death for disobedience or unfilial conduct, and so strongly was Mrs. Shao opposed to her son's religion, that had he not been a dihgent and capable worker whose earnings all came to her hands, his life would certainly have been in danger. But short of killing or disabhng him her cruelty was extraordinary. His beloved books were constantly destroyed, and whenever the whim seized her the angry woman would take a bamboo and, ordering her grown-up son to lie down upon the ground, would beat him furiously. According to Chinese law, if Shao had at any time retaliated, the woman only needed to bring a charge against him and the mandarin would at once have sentenced him to death ! But through all these difficulties Shao continued a consistent Christian, growing in grace and knowledge, and he developed so much zeal and ability that it was decided he should be asked to join the first class of student catechists in Tientsin. Probably his mother's avarice stood him in good stead in this matter, for to the surprise of all she raised no objection to his giving up lamp, making and " following the foreigner," as she would express it. Shao proved a first rate student, and before long became a power- ful preacher. In an article written when the news of Mr. Shao's death reached England Mr. Lees recalls an incident of his student course. The missionary had been talking earnestly to the young men about the true nature of the Christian ministry. He bade them remember that it was not a mere employment by which they might €am a livelihood, but a life service in obedience to a Divine call, and he urged them to give up their studies at once if they were not con- 68 CROSS AND CROWN scious of this sacred summons. Shao dated a deeper life from that solemn hour, and none of the number has more nobly lived up to the high ideal. For a time Shao acted as preacher in the chapels of Tientsin. During several years also he was a singularly powerful and successful preacher in charge (under the Rev. Geo. Owen) of the largest chapel in our Peking Mission. He joined the Yenshan Mission in the year 1897, and assisted the Rev. D. S. Murray in his charge of the country churches in that large district, where so much of his youthful work was done. When Mr. Shao was the preacher there were no listless hearers in the congregation. He was specially fond of illustrations, and thej^ were always so apt that they iixed the truth he wished to impress upon the people in their hearts for ever. I remember one close hot afternoon when Mr. Shao preached in our Ma-chia-kou chapel in Tientsin. It was a day to make every one feel drowsy, but by his apt illustrations he carried along the attention of all and left a deep impression upon his audience. A few specimens of Shao's illustrations will be of interest to English readers. " Who are the men who are truly followers of Jesus ? " he asked one day. " Is it the clever men, those who can read every character in their Bibles and are good preachers ? or the men who spend their lives in doing the will of God ? Surely the latter, for we must have the fragrance of the Christ life going out from our lives always if we would win others. " Once there was a tiger who went out hunting for its prey. For a long time he could find nothing to eat. Then he felt he must do something desperate, and seeing two travellers coming towards him in the distance he decided that he would secure one of them to satisfy A FAITHFUL PASTOR 69 the pangs of hunger. Suddenly he heard a voice from above and gazing upward saw a guardian angel who informed him that one of the people approaching was a ' Jesus rehgion man,' and that he must on no account harm him. ' But how shall I know the Christian man ? ' inquired the tiger. ' By the sweet odour of the Jesus religion,' replied the angel. "So the tiger went on and falling upon one of the men devoured him. As he returned to his lair the angel met him with a rebuke, asking why he had been so disobedient and killed the Christian. The tiger became confused and said, ' I did not know the odour of the Jesus religion, but I snuffed a good deal and finding there was a dis- tinct odour of good works about one of the men I left him alone, for I thought he must be a Christian, and I devoured, his companion.' " Therefore," continued Mr. Shao, " if you do not wish to be despatched by the raging lion who goeth about seeking whom he may devour, see to it that there is a Christ-hke fragrance about your life and that all know by your good deeds that you are a follower of Jesus." Another of Mr. Shao's illustrations ran as follows, and was some- times used at harvest festivals in the various churches :^ " Once there was a little lad, the son of a wealthy father, and every day when meal times came he was called in and found all that he needed spread out upon the table. " Somehow the boy began to connect the food with the table, as if that wooden object itself produced it. The wise father thought he would teach his son a lesson, so he gave orders to his servants one day not to lay the table or prepare any food. " When dinner time arrived the boy felt hungry and came in expecting to find the meal ready as usual, but nothing was to be seen. He became very angry and stamped upon the floor and kicked the 70 CROSS AND CROWN table. The father, who was standing behind a curtain, came out and said, ' You fooUsh boy, not to understand that it is I, your father, who am caring for your wants every day, and not a hfeless wooden table ! '" The application was then made to the foolishness of idolatry in the Chinese, who fail to understand that it is the Heavenly Father who is the giver of all, and not the senseless wooden idols. -,^?Ji^«y>?3^J^.5;^|j^2^' A CHINESE FARMYARD AND THRESHING FLOOR. {On the right is a coffin, waiting for a "lucky " day for the funeral.) Another ■ anecdote was used to illustrate the duty of keeping the Lord's Day holy : — " It was Chinese New Year's time and a man was traveUing from Tientsin to his home in Chi-nan-fu. He carried wth him seven iaels of silver for his travelling expenses. On the way he met so many A FAITHFUL PASTOR 71 beggars and poor people whose needs he relieved that at last he had only one tael left for himself. Then while he was asleep one night one of the beggars to whom he had given so liberally stole from him his last tael of silver. What do you think of a man who would act as that beggar did ? " Of course the man's conduct would be heartily condemned. "He was not fit to live," some would say. Then Shao would turn upon his audience with the words, " Thou art the man ! God gives you six days in the week, but the seventh is His own day on which you may specially serve and learn more of Him. Six days only are yours to use as you will ; the seventh is the Lord's. And yet you go and steal it from Him ! " One more of his illustrations shows how clearly Shao understood the deeper truths of the spiritual life :— " Once there was a king who was very fond of children. He loved to gather them round him and would ask what gifts they would like best. " The first child when called came forward and said he would like a couple of cash to buy some sweetmeats with. He was evidently a boy of not much inteUigence and did not comprehend the dignity of a king. " The next child asked for an ounce of silver, and this greatly pleased the monarch. A third asked for an ounce of gold and a fourth for a diamond. " The fifth came up and for a time would not ask for anything. When questioned he said he wished for neither gold nor diamonds ; what he would like best of all would be to be adopted by the King and be his own child, and then all his possessions would be his also." The application will be readily understood. The true Christian cares not so much for God's gifts, as to be adopted into His family, and to receive His nature. 72 CROSS AND CROWN When the Boxers appeared in the district of Yen-shan, some of the Cliristians who had not fled came to Mr. Shao and inquired anxiously if they should flee or not, as the missionaries had sent word from T'sang-chow that it would be well for men to scatter. Shao replied calmly, " We have evidently arrived at a great crisis in the history of the Church. Do you flee, but as for me, as long as God's house is here I shall remain." In a few days matters became so serious that Shao allowed his son John, who was about nine years of age, to go with others to Lao-hng in Shantung, for the Christians in that district were protected by the Governor, Yuan Shih-kai. Meanwhile Shao, with his wife and third daughter, remained at home. Mrs. Shao had not long before undergone a severe opera- tion, for it had been necessary to amputate her arm. The daugh- ter was a very intelli- gent girl and a true Christian, according to the testimony of her teacher, Mrs. G. P. Smith. On Saturday, June i6, v the Boxers came in great force and surrounded the buildings of the Mission. They burned the chapel and destroyed every- thing in the compound. The Shao family were at the time living in a MR. HWANG, HOSPIT.\L ASSISTANT TO DR. ARTHUR & -PEiLL. house on the other side A FAITHFUL PASTOR 73 of the street. They were discovered and dragged into the Mission compound. With the intention of disturbing the preacher's calm demeanour the cruel Boxers cut down his wife and young daughter in his presence with frightful cruelty. According to the testimony of the Boxers themselves, Shao did not change face through these terrible moments, but kept calm and courageous as if sustained by superhuman strength. They say, " it was as if he kept praying all the time." Thus bravely and calmly he met his death. At the same time the Bible woman, Mrs. Wang, was killed in a similar manner. The remains were terribly mutilated and then burned. Only a few bones were left, and these the local constable interred close by, at the foot of the broken down city wall. Not long afterwards, the Boxer chief, fearing an attack from the Mohammedans in retaliation for the terrible cruelties practised upon their people, ordered the city wall to be repaired. Thousands of men under his orders worked on the wall night and day. The bones of the martyrs were then scattered about and built up within the new wall, so that it is not possible to recover them to place with the remains of many other martyrs in the ground adjoining the Martyrs' Memorial Hall in the new Mission compound. But their memory will never die in the district where they lived and worked so nobly. Shao's son John, who had been sent across the Chihli border to Shantung by his father, with the other Christians, stole back on three successive nights to Yen-shan ; but hearing of the cruel deeds of the Boxers and how all his dear ones were dead, he fled to one of our out- stations near Yen-shan, where he was seized by the Boxers and taken to their camp in the city at the Temple of the God of War. He was not killed, however, but was used as a decoy by the cruel persecutors to find out and recognize other Christians, many of whom were dis- 74 CROSS AND CROWN covered in this way. The poor lad was treated with revolting cruelty, but after the defeat of the Boxers by General Mei he escaped, with an old Christian named Han, and after greac privations and long wanderings in the waste lands to the east of Yen-shan, they eventually made their way, as did so many other of the country Christians, to the Mission premises in Tientsin. John is now a scholar in our Peking boys' school. God grant that he may grow up to follow in the footsteps of his noble father and pro^'e such another tower of strength to the Church ! CHAPTER VI CHANG YUNG AND HIS WIFE CHAPTER VI CHANG YUNG AND HIS WIFE CHANG YUNG was a country lad who lived in the Tung-an district, between Peking and Tientsin. He had been adopted as a child by a country preacher and his wife who worked there many years ago. The Rev. Joseph Stonehouse, who was the last missionary massacred during the Boxer rising, became attracted to the lad during one of his visits round this districts, of which for many years he had charge. Finding Chang Yung a bright intelhgent lad, he arranged for him to attend our Peking Boys' High School, for many years under the care of Rev. J. M. AUardyce. The lad made good progress at the school and showed himself, both by ability and character, a suitable candidate for the Christian ministry. When his course at the school was over, it was arranged for him to enter the Theological Training School established more than thirty years ago by the Rev. Jonathan Lees, in Tientsin, from which some of our most valuable helpers have gone forth to preach the Gospel to their fellow-countrymen and to strengthen the hands of the foreign missionaries. In a letter written on May 28, 1900, before the Boxers attacked the Foreign Legations, but when Peking was shaken with rumours of coming danger, Mr. Stonehouse wrote that the city was placarded with proclamations inviting the people to destroy the native Christians and drive out all foreigners. 77 78 CROSS AND CROWN " The native preachers," he continued, " are daily insulted, and the Christians are flocking to us for protection and advice. We are still going on with our services and the street chapels are open daily, though the preachers are continually threatened. I am glad to think A STREET IN PEKING, WITH MEMORIAL ARCH ERECTED IN HONOUR OF BARON KETTELER, KILLED IN 190O. that my head preacher, Chang, has not lost his head, and has been of real value to me by his advice and the cool way he has gone about his duties." The young preacher was married to the eldest daughter of Pastor CHANG YUNG AND HIS WIFE 79 Shao of Yen-shan, whose story has been told in the preceding chapter, and at the time of the Boxer rising the young couple had one little child. When suddenly the storm broke, the streets of Peking rang with the hoarse shouts of " Kill the foreign devils ! Destroy the secondary devils ! " (the native Christians), and the midnight sky was red with the flames from the burning Mission premises. The Methodist Mission was in a specially strong position, near to the wall of the city, and was crowded with students, school boys and school girls, as well as a large number of foreign workers. It was to this place of refuge that many of the Christians of other Missions fled in their time of need, and among them were Mr. Chang, his wife and child. At this time the Chinese troops 1 the city wall on one side of the Mission. Barricades were therefore built, trenches dug, and barbed wire defences placed by the side of them under the direction of the mission- aries. Teachers and preachers alike worked in the trenches, the most highly educated of the helpers gladly doing " coohes' work " under a scorching sun and in pouring rain, building the barricades, while the shot fell like hail all round them and not untre- -^-g^ chang with his wife and child. So CROSS AND CROWN quently a shell or cannon ball whizzed through the air above their heads. Night after night the quiet midnight hours were made hideous by numberless Boxers yelling at the top of their voices, " Kill ! kill ! " in order to strike terror into the hearts of the " strangers from afar." It was e\-ident that their wrath was specially directed against the native Christians, and some thought it might be safer if the converts could be scattered and perhaps hide themselves in different parts of the city. Mr. Chang was one of the Christians who decided to adopt this policy, and he therefore left the Mission with his family before the ministers had ordered the removal of all the besieged to the British Legation. They made their way to his adopted father's house, thinking possibly they might be safe there. The young preacher, having seen his wife and child in a place of shelter, went out to buy necessaries for them on the streets. While he was away some one informed the landlord of the house that Christians were residing there, and he promptly came and drove Mrs. Chang with her child and old blind mother-in-law out into the streets. They were indeed a helpless group, and the poor young wife knew not where to turn for help. So she went slowly along, praying for guidance, holding her baby close to her breast, while at the same time she tried to guide the uncertain footsteps of her poor blind relative. They had not gone far when suddenly a Boxer seized the loose sleeve of Mrs. Chang's jacket and dragged her along by it, compelling her to follow his rapid footsteps, and separating her from the blind woman. Fortunately the man was alone and unarmed. When they had gone along for some distance and the young mother was almost breath- less, the Boxer suddenly fell into one of the trances or fits which the CHANG YUNG AND HIS WIFE 8'r Boxers practised. He threw himself on the ground in a paroxysm of rage and foamed at the mouth. Suddenly he rose again. Pointing his finger at her, he said, " I know you are a Christian. I will kill you ! " He continued to drag the poor young woman along, with the child in her arms, till they reached one of the city gates, guarded by about fifty armed soldiers. Close by lay the mutilated bodies of several Christians whom the Boxers had barbarously murdered. " This is one of the execution grounds where they put the converts to death," said the poor girl to herself. " Now they are going to kill me also." And she prayed, " Lord Jesus, give me courage tO' witness for Thee even unto the end." The Boxer who had captured and brought her to this place- then began to examine her before the soldiers and the assembled, crowd. " Are you a Christian ? " he asked. " Yes, I am," she replied. " To what Church do you belong ? " " I am a Protestant of the London Mission." The men then placed a stick of incense in her hand and said, " Burn this before the idols and then your life will be spared. Otherwise you must certainly die ! " " No, I will never do that," she rephed firmly. A crowd had gathered round, such as always collected in Chinese cities at that time, when everybody seemed to thirst for the blood of the Christians. " Kill her ! kill her ! " they cried out in hoarse mocking tones. " Let us see if she rises up again and is caught up to the skies, as the Christians say will be the case ! " Then the brave women turned her calm gaze upon their cruel faces and quietly replied, " My body cut into pieces will remain scattered 82 CROSS AND CROWN upon the ground, just as is the case with these others. It is my spirit that will escape you and rise up to meet my Lord." The bystanders were all amazed at the girl's fearless courage. " How brave she is ! " they exclaimed. " Why, she does not fear to die in the least ! What is it that gives these Christians such courage ? " ' Meanwhile the Boxer went off to get his sword. Even the rough "^sdldiers who guarded the gate had been touched by the young mother's -fearless demeanour as she stood with her child in her arms and no ihuman protection by her side. Suddenly one of the soldiers (perhaps he had a child he loved at Ihome) stepped forward and said, " You are a hateful Christian. You "deserve to die ; but then what would become of your poor child ? '^uick, run for your hfe before the Boxer returns." She tried to run, but her limbs seemed to have lost all power. The soldiers urged her to make haste, and even assisted her to escape, and she just managed to reach a hiding-place before the Boxer returned. She crept into a damp corner close bj' the city wall, shaded by wild -climbers which grew with tropical luxuriance. Any moment she might be dragged out with her little one and put to the sword. There she passed a night of terror, harder to bear than the pangs of sudden death, fearing each moment that the child's cry might reveal their presence to a passer-by. She cried to her Lord for help in this time of desperate need ; but from whence could any human help come in this great city where to be a Christian meant to be hunted to death ? The darkest hour is said to be just before dawn, and just at that time Mrs. Chang saw in the distance the light of a lantern flickering here and there, as if its owner were diligently seeking for some one. She was in an agony of fear and hardlj? dared to breathe. The CHANG YUNG AND HIS WIFE 83 4 child might cry out at any time and reveal their hiding place, and it seemed certain tlie persecutors were on her track again, determined she should not escape. As the lantern came quite near, marvellous to relate, it revealed the face of her husband, who had been seeking for them since noon of the day before, and at last had discovered them in what seemed quite a miraculous fashion ! No wonder they both felt the Lord had guided him in answer to their agonized prayers. At daylight he suc- ceeded in hiring a cart, and creeping behind the hanging blind which shades the front of the cart, the fugitives were driven out of the city gates to a village some miles distant where a well-to-do friend of Mr. Chang's resided. This friend purchased the safety of the poor hunted Christians hy bribes to the villagers and found them a place of refuge. But though in safe hiding himself, Mr. Chang could not rest when THE GREAT WALL OF CHINA. {I\Ia>iy Christians took refuge here during the Boxer troubles.) 84 CROSS AND CROWN he thought of his poor blind mother left alone on the streets of Peking. It was going again into the very mouth of the lion, but after a few days he felt he must make the attempt to get into the city again and try to hear news of the old lady. So he bade farewell to his wife and little one, hardly daring to hope they would meet again on earth. Mr. Chang entered the city, and in company with another member of the London Mission attempted to get news of his mother. Before long it was ascertained that in her helplessness, like so many more, she had suffered death at the hands of the Boxers. Then, before they could make their way out of the city, the two Christians were seized and dragged to a Boxer altar, where they were tried and pronounced to be guilty of believing in the faith of Jesus. They were condemned to death and their hearts offered up before the idols as an acceptable gift. Writing soon after Mr. Chang's death, Mr. Stonehouse said: " It was a great joy to me when Chang Yung joined me in Peking. He was not a brilliant man, but he was good, and his life and work were beginning to tell. I do not think he had a single enemy. I cannot estimate his loss. I loved him as I have never loved any other China- man. He was worthy of the crown of life, but it is a bitter thing to be without him as a helper in the work." Chang Yung's young wife remained in the village where they had taken shelter till the allies had entered Peking and the siege was raised. Another grief had befallen her, for the little one had been called to the heavenly home. When the poor fugitives gathered together at the London Mission once more under the wise and loving care of their teacher, Miss Smith (now Mrs. Biggin), Mr. Chang's young wife was remembered and sent for. For some time she assisted Dr. LiUie Saville in her hospital work, proving herself a valuable helper. CHANG YUNG AND HIS WIFE 85 After a while it was thought best that the young widow should have a protector, and a marriage was arranged for her with one of the young preachers of the American Board Mission. The marriage has proved a happy one, and Mrs. Biggin, who told me the strange story of Mrs. Chang's wonderful escape, adds that in character she is earnest and strong, like her father, Mr. Shao of Yen-shan. CHAPTER VII THE FIERY TRIAL OF THE PEKING CHRISTIANS CHAPTER VII THE FIERY TRIAL OF THE PEKING CHRISTIANS IT is difficult in our quiet English homes to realize what martyr- dom means. How small an impression is made on us as we read of how under the shadow of picturesque Chinese pagodas, within the hoary city walls, men and women suffered, not merely death, but agonies of which we dare not dream, for Jesus' sake ! Peking, the great weird " city of immense distances," is not one city only, but several cities in one — several cities each surrounded by massive grey walls. Who that has trodden her great broad streets, so different from the narrow roadways of most Chinese cities, can ever forget them ? Here squalor and grandeur are seen side by side, magnificent Eastern architecture on the one hand, and on the other slums and dirt beyond the power of the minds of men to conceive ! Walking upon the green slopes of the city walls in the summer time you see spread before you a forest of verdure, for trees are planted in nearl}' every Peking court-yard ; and as they rise above the low, single-storied houses, the effect makes it difficult to believe that one is looking down upon a thickly populated city. It was in this city, during the terrible month of June, 1900, that the Chinese Christians were hunted for their hves and the streets were red with their blood. In England, as some of you will remember, telegrams were at one time received declaring that every one of our countrymen had been 90 CROSS AND CROWN put to the sword by the Boxer bands, aided by the Imperial troops. When at last it was discovered, upon the arrival of the Allied Armies, that though many had lost their lives in battle, or by disease, there had been no general massacre, people were inclined to underrate the terrible hardships the besieged had endured, and the great sufferings of the native Christians. At that time to be a Christian meant to be hated by all men. For weeks there had been rumours of coming trouble, and warning placards were to be found everywhere, declaring that foreigners and native Christians would all be killed. Still every one hoped that the threatened evil would not come. The missionaries determined to do all in their power to shelter the converts, and in our own Mission Miss Georgina Smith (now Mrs. Biggin), Dr. Saville, Mr. and Mrs. Stonehouse, Mr. Biggin, and Mr. and Mrs. Howard Smith aU did their best to care for those who were even more bitterly hated than the foreigners themselves. Mrs. Biggin writes : " On June 8, 1900, Peking and the surrounding country were in such a state of suppressed excitement that an out- break was feared at any moment. It was decided, therefore, to abandon the Mission compound in the east city and take refuge in the British Legation, where already large num- bers of foreigners had been sheltered. But some of us were unwilling to \ea.ve the native Christians and the refugees from the country churches MRS. BIGGI.N". THE FIERY TRIAL OF THE PEKING CHRISTIANS 91 who had fled to us for protection. While we were debating what was to be done, a message came that all native Christians were to go to the American Methodist Mission. This was a mistake, but it was a mistake which God over-ruled to the saving of their lives. I went with them to the American Mission, and the friends there were gener- ous enough to take us in and give us food and shelter, although we were not expected and no provision had been made for us." Dr. Lillie Saville describes the arrival of the Chinese refugees on that anxious night. " There was a lame man on another's back : he must not be refused. Here was a West City Bible-woman, with her old blind mother-in-law and baby girl ; and here a small West City school boy. Our Mission Christians had to be identified in the dark in the church, women and children huddled together in a corner of the building ; but no sign of panic, no murmur of any kind was heard." On the night of the 13th of June took place the terrible massacre of Christians who had not sought refuge with their foreign teachers. From the upper verandahs of the Mission columns of smoke could be seen, followed by huge blazes all over the city, and those who watched knew that their homes, churches, schools and hospitals were being destroyed. The shouts of " Kill ! Kill ! " rent the air, as the Boxers pounced upon their prey, and neither old age nor childhood was spared. Night after night the city wall, near the compound of the American Mission, where so many Christians were sheltered, was crowded by Boxers, who made each night hideous by their shouts. Matters grew worse instead of better, and at last Captain Hall, who was in charge of the twenty-five marines guarding the Mission, decided that it would be unsafe to hold out any longer, and that ah must go to the British Legation. " This retreat," writes Mrs. Biggin, " was one of the remarkable 92 CROSS AND CROWN events of the siege. On that day, over one thousand refugees, Chinese and foreign, crossed one of the main thoroughfares of Peking, on tlieir way to the Legations. The city wall and gate, which almost cast its deep shadow on the road which we crossed, so near was it, was crowded with armed Chinese soldiers watching us in grim silence, rejoicing to think that, as they imagined, we were walking into a death-trap. They thought that at any moment the Empress Dowager's orders to open attack upon us would be given. But the order was not given till we were safe within the Legation lines." Half an hour after the Christians had arrived, an innumerable company of Boxers and Chinese Imperial sol- diers rushed up Legation Street, de- termined upon massacre ; but they were beaten back by the foreign soldiers. Opposite the British Legation, across the canal, was a princely palace standing in extensive grounds, belong- ing to Prince Su. In this place already 2,000 Roman Catholics had been placed, clutched from the very hands of their would-be murderers by brave rescue parties. Now, thanks to the firm in- sistence of Dr. Morrison and the Rev. Huberty James of the Peking Uni- versity, the whole palace was given up by its owner as a refuge for the Chris- tians. It is said that Prince Su was un- I'KT.NXE SU, IN WHOSE i'ALAC'E THE NATIVE CHRISTIANS WERE SHELTERED THE FIERY TRIAL OF THE PEKING CHRISTIANS 93 willing at first to give up his palace for such a use, lest it should be supposed that he was in league with the hated Christians, but that he told those who were making the arrangements they could batter down the gates if they wished, and he would make his escape. And so it came about that the refugee Christians were sheltered THE WATER-GATE THROUGH WHICH THE BRITISH TROOPS ENTERED PErCING. in the palace of a Chinese Prince ! But the Boxers' fiercest attacks were made against this place, as their great desire was the destruction of the native converts. The Japanese soldiers, under Colonel Shiba, fought most bravely in defence of the Christians and kept the enemy at bay ; but the Chinese: 94 CROSS AND CROWN troops succeeded in burning and destroying so many buildings that after three weeks it was decided to move the Christians over to the British Legation side of the moat. The British Legation is divided from Prince Su's palace by this moat, and a very short distance away is the Water-Gate, through which the British troops forced their way, bringing deliverance not only to the sorelj? pressed Europeans, but to the thousands of native Christians they were protecting. " Day after day," writes Mrs. Biggin, " the bullets had simply rained upon the Legations and surrounding buildings, but compara- tivelj' few were killed considering the terrible danger to which all were exposed. After the siege I inquired of a Chinese friend how it was that the soldiers and Boxers did not ' rush ' the Legations and overpower us by sheer force of numbers. ' They were so much afraid of the white figures (angels) which peopled the walls and roof,' she replied, ' for the more they fired at them the more they multiplied.' " From the time that the troubles commenced God stretched out His hand and worked a series of miracles on behalf of the native Church, as wonderful as any in Scripture history." Many were the acts of bravery and great heroism performed by Chinese Christians during that sad time, actions of self-forgetting love and glad humility. Professors and literary men of all grades, usually so proud in China, worked in the trenches, helped to build barricades, or fill sand-bags, and cheerfully did the work of the lowest coolies. It is not to be wondered at that the American Minister, writing to the missionaries after the siege, should say, " Without your intelligent and careful planning and the uncomplaining labours of the Chinese Christians, I believe our salvation would have been impossible." It would not be possible to relate all the heroic deeds performed during the siege, but some of them must not be forgotten. One who THE FIERY TRIAL OF THE PEKING CHRISTIANS 95 was called " a heroine of the Peking siege," was a widow, of the name of Li, who had been taught by Mrs. Biggin at the London Mission. She had five child- ren dependent upon her, and a blind mother. During the siege a day came when Colonel Shiba, who commanded the Japanese forces de- fending the Chris- tians, feared that the brave garrison would be unable to hold out much longer. The fight- ing had by this time become almost hand to hand, since tliere was only a wall between the defenders of the Christians and their MISSIONARIES ENCAGED IN THE DEFENCE OF THE LEGATION. 96 CROSS AND CROWN enemies, and it seemed as if they must soon fall into the hands of their savage assailants. Colonel Shiba was very anxious to send a message through, and offered one hundred taels reward to any one who would carry his letter. It was known that the task involved serious risks of falling into the hands of the enemy, and that no mercy would be shown. Never- theless Mrs. Li came forward and said, with a quiet, calm face, as if she were offering nothing remarkable, " It is better that one should die, rather than all these thousands perish. I will take your letter ! " The Japanese officer gladly accepted her offer and gave her full instructions. She was dressed in a beggar's garb, with a basket on her arm, and went out beyond the barrier, with the letter carefully concealed. Mrs. Li succeeded in her errand and the message reached its des- tination, the Japanese were able to hold out to the last, and the great band of refugees were saved. But the Christian heroine never reached the palace again. She is said to have returned to the barrier, but meanwhile the guard had been changed, and the soldiers did not recognize her. In the hurry and excitement of her departure no one had remembered to give her a passport to enable her to enter again the place of refuge. Finding she could not gain an entrance to the palace, she succeeded in making her way out of the city to her old home, about six miles from Peking. She reached the village without mishap, but the next day a neighbour betrayed her to the Boxers, telling them she belonged to the hated " Jesus sect," and she was at once put to death. Towards the end of the siege, Mrs. Li's little son, a lad of thirteen 3'ears of age, became so distressed at finding she did not return, that he managed to get away from the Legation and started off for their THE FIERY TRIAL OF THE PEKING CHRISTIANS 97 PEKINX. CHRISTIANS. Mr. Nieh (on the left) is a Christian Endeavourer and preacher. village home " to find mother." He found their homes in ruins and learned that his brave mother had been cruelly murdered. The poor boy succeeded in making his way back to the Legation, where he and his sisters were cared for by the missionaries. " She was a large-hearted kindly woman, always ready to do any- body a good turn," writes the teacher tenderly. "All the world has heard of Colonel Shiba's heroic defence, and the brave part he played in warding off a general massacre. But the noble act of this lowly Christian woman is known to comparatively few. She was truly a follower of Jesus and in some small way she gave her life a ransom for many." G 98 CROSS AND CROWN The first messenger to get through from Peking to Tientsin, bring- ing news of the besieged to the outer world, was a Sunday School scholar, a lad of thirteen years of age. He was not a baptized Christian, but when the troubles broke out, he was hastily turned out of the shop at which he had been working, on account of his connexion with foreigners. After the terrible days during which so many of the native Christians were massacred, the missionaries went out into the streets, seeking for any of the Christians who might be in hiding. This lad followed them and begged to be sheltered in the Mission compound. A month later, when the Legations and all Europeans in Peking were seeking for a messenger to carry news of their terrible straits to Tientsin, this boy asked to be allowed to go. The American marines who occupied a position at the corner of the wall, lowered him by a rope, after dark, into the southern city. He slept close to the gate that night, and at dawn mingled with the crowds without the city, and started on his perilous journey. He had many adventures on the way, on one occasion being thrown into the river, and he feared lest the letter, which had been sewn into the sole of his Chinese cotton shoe, would be destroyed. But God protected him and he reached Tientsin in safety and delivered his message to the British Consul. ■' ' The importance of the lad's brave deed may be better estimated when it is remembered that before his message was delivered the commanders of the allied troops, fearing from the long silence that all was over with the foreigners in Peking, had determined to delay their march upon the capital till September, on account of the floods after the rainy season and the great heat. The arrival of this young messenger altered their plans, and enabled the troops to rescue the Legations when it seemed almost impossible for them to hold out much longer. THE FIERY TRIAL OF THE PEKING CHRISTIANS 99 ADMIRAL SEYMOUR S EXPEDITION RETURNING TO TIENTSIN, Among those killed by the Boxers near Peking was an old man named Chiang, who was sixty-seven years of age. He was a very saintly Christian and a great Bible student and was respected by all who knew him. His wife had died some time before the Boxer rising, but he had two daughters, both of whom were married and lived near him. In the early part of June, when the villages round Peking, as well as the great city itself, became so unsafe for Christians, the preacher of the httle Shih-pa-h-tien church decided that it would be wise for all the members to leave their homes and take refuge with the mis- n/ loo CROSS AND CROWN sionaries in Peking. Some of the Christians followed his advice, but others felt afraid to leave their small homesteads to be looted and destroyed by the Boxers. Among the latter were Mr. Chiang's two daughters. The old man himself came up with the preacher and other friends, and took refuge with the rest of the L.M.S. Christians in the Methodist compound. But Chiang was an affectionate father, devoted to both his children, but especially attached to his youngest daughter. When he saw the state of things in the capital, and realized the danger of all who were exposed to the fury of the Boxers, he determined to return to his home and warn his children, persuading them if possible to come into the Mission. Mr. Chiang's was a noticeable figure, for he was a hump-back, and he was well known as a follower of Jesus in all the country round. As he entered the village a woman shouted to a party of Boxers passing by, " There goes one of the Christians ! " When the men were commencing to bind him with ropes they said, *' If you will tell us where the preachers and deacons are hiding, we will let you go." When he refused to tell them, they shouted, " Hack him to pieces ! " Then the old man said mildly, " Please wait a few minutes," — and before they quite realized what he wanted, the aged saint had fallen upon his knees and commenced the prayer of the Master whom he loved. " Father, forgive them for ." But ere the sentence ■could be finished the enraged persecutors fell upon him with their swords and beneath their savage blows he breathed his last. Now that the strange glamour which surrounded the Boxer rising has passed away, many of the people who took part in it are ashamed of their wild deeds of cruelty. They tell often of the brave deaths of the Christians, and in this particular case the whole district praises THE FIERY TRIAL OF THE PEKING CHRISTIANS loi the blameless life of the old hunchback Cliiang, and the calmness with which he faced a cruel death. Dr. Lilhe Saville, who was with the Christians throughout that terrible time, tells the story of a small West City day-scholar whose father was one of the helpers in the Rev. Hill Murray's Blind School Mission. " Early in the troubles," she writes, " the blind school, consisting of thirty boys and eight girls, had been removed from their fine com- pound in the West City to a more secluded spot, near the foreigners in the East. The mother of Wun-teh, with her elder sister and baby- brother, were put with them. On the night of the 13th was the terrible massacre of Christians in the city and the destruction of nearly all the property belonging to foreigners. " No more was heard of this helpless company, till one morning, while the Chinese Christians with Miss Smith were sheltered in the Methodist Mission, a message was sent in that a little girl wished to speak to the doctor. She was not allowed to enter at once, but was told she would be seen at the gate. It was little Wen-teh, stripped of all but two thin cotton garments, with a naked baby on her back. Her story was given with wonderful calmness for a wee maiden of only twelve years of age. " She said the mob had rushed into the compound where the blind were and had set fire to the buildings. All had run out together, and tried to escape, but became separated in the tumult. She heard that all the blind girls were driven back into the flames. Wun-teh and her mother and sister had fled westward towards their old home, but had been recognized. Her mother and elder sister were killed with swords and the baby was stripped. Most of her own clothes were taken and then, wonderful to relate, she was allowed to go. But where ? For five days that child wandered about the city, avoid- I02 CROSS AND CROWN ing the large streets, creeping along the narrowest lanes, always with the baby, aged two, upon her back. She had no money to buy food and was afraid to beg. A Buddhist priest had met her and given her a few cash, and also a small charm which he advised her to keep and show when questioned. The streets were full of Boxers, she said — men with red caps, red girdles and ankle ties, and they went about in gangs crying, " Kill ! Kill ! " She had seen many people burned, others speared and cruelly murdered. She had been the round of all the Missions and seen their smouldering ruins. Our West City com- pound, she said, was just a ' wilderness — an empty place,' even the big trees gone. Finally, a kind-hearted British marine had allowed the girl to rest and take some food in his improvised sentry-shed, and later on in the day, the poor little woman had been brought to the friendly shelter of the Methodist Mission." One of the married school-girls of our Mission was saved by her husband in an extraordinary manner. In an unfrequented spot he built a stone hut leaning against a blank wall. It was about four feet square on the ground and six feet high, with neither door nor window. When his young wife and child were inside, the man built up the entrance, leaving only a small opening through which food could be passed in. The mother and child remained in this narrow space for six weeks, the husband going backwards and forwards at the risk of his life to carry them food. Sometimes he could not get to them for twenty-four hours at a time. The poor little child, unfortunately, hved but a short time after they were able to leave their hiding-place, having suffered so much from lack of food and air. Mrs. Biggin relates the anxious experiences of another man, named Wen, who was seized with his wife and little one and taken before Prince Chuang. The baby was a lively and winsome little child and won the hearts of some of the Boxers, so that for its sake the mother THE FIERY TRIAL OF THE PEKING CHRISTIANS 103 was spared. During the trial the servant of a powerful official who was present, for some reason unknown swore that Mr. Wun was not a Christian, but a respectable man with whom his master was acquainted. His evidence was accordingly accepted and to their surprise both husband and wife were set free. But as they left the Prince's dwelling-place poor Mr. Wun was again seized by Boxers, though in the confusion his wife managed to escape and made her way to the country, where she was hidden safely till the allied troops reached Peking. Mr. Wun was loaded with chains by his captors and had his head shaved. In this sad plight he was led about from village to village in the neighbourhood of Peking and eixhibited as a Christian who was being taken to the city for punishment. In order to make the ex- hibition profitable, the Boxers said their funds were low and they needed the gifts of the charitable to enable them to convey their captive to a place where he would suffer for his evil deeds and offences against the gods. While a collection was being made the villagers hooted and jeered at the captive, tormenting him with cruel ingenuity. After that, exhausted with the heavy chains, he was hurried on to another village. But one day the news reached the Boxers that the allied troops had arrived in Peking. At once they took to their heels and made good their escape, fearing they would get into trouble. Mr. Wun hastened to the capital and was soon safely re-united with his wife and child. The Rev. Howard Smith tehs the following story of his former Christian teacher, a man with whom he had been studying up to the time of the troubles. Mr. Tung Tien-fu, after his wife had gone into the Legation area for protection, decided to go and stay with a friend so that he might I04 CROSS AND CROWN help him to protect his property. But they soon had to fly for their lives. Mr. Tung then went to the home of his brother-in-law, hoping that he would shelter him, but he was refused admittance. After this he sought the house of his father-in-law. He was taken in, but "' " A-M-H"'^^- A CORNER OF THE BRITISH LEGATION WALL IN PEKING, SHOWING INSCRIPTION CUT BY ORDER OF THE BRITISH MINISTER. very soon it was seen to be impossible for them to remai /' there and they decided to flee together into the country. They went to Tung-chow and then on to T'sai-yii, but there was no place of refuge to be found. Everywhere there were marks of destruction of property and massacre of the Christians. So once more they made their way then back again to the city. THE FIERY TRIAL OF THE PEKING CHRISTIANS 105 Tung reached his father-in-law's house first, but no sooner was his arrival noted than the landlord summoned thirty or forty Boxers who surrounded the house and seized and bound him. They carried him to their headquarters near the south-east gate of the Chinese city. He was bound hand and foot and then given an opportunity of saving his life by recantation. He could become a Boxer and be saved from the pangs of a cruel death. The chief witness against him was a man named Chang Chun, who had been the leader in a riot at a place near Shih-pa-li-tien. Some theatrical performances were being held in this place, and a Christian colporteur had attended there for the purpose of selling his books to the crowd gathered there. Chang led an attack upon the colporteur, whose books were all torn to pieces and scattered to the winds. Mr. Tung had taken some part in the investigation of this affair, to the annoyance of Chang, who evidently thought it was now a good oppor- tunity to have his revenge. " Do you still believe in Jesus ? " the Boxers asked Mr. Tung, seeing his calmness even while hacked and stabbed with their knives. " Yes, indeed," he replied, " until death I shall believe in Him." The man bowed his head and prayed, " Lord Jesus receive my spirit." And soon the cruel wounds of the Boxers, led by Chang Chun^ set free his weary soul. This record of the last words of Mr. Tung was obtained from the statements made by Chang himself when being tried for the murders of the Christians after the arrival of the allied troops. The last words of the converts seem always to have made a great impression upon their persecutors, showing as they did a faith which suffering and death could not shake. After the allied troops had reached Peking some of the missionaries, being released from their place of refuge in the Legation, began to io6 CROSS AND CROWN make inquiries as to the fate of the converts who had not sought shelter with them. The yamens, or mandarins' offices, had been deserted upon the approach of the troops, and in these places papers were found giving evidence as to the Boxer leaders and their victims, accounts of money paid for the heads of foreigners and Christians, and various other matters of the same kind. It was in this way that the noble witness borne by a Christian named Mr. Chang of our Mission became known. His home was in a village near T'ung-chow, but his business was in Peking. When the city became full of Boxers Mr. Chang left Peking and went home with the hope of saving his family from attack. They were leaving the village when he was seized by the Boxers, stripped of his clothing and bound upon a cart with ropes and carried to T'ung- chow to the official yanien. The cords had been bound so tightly round his body that they had cut into the flesh, and when brought up for trial Mr. Chang's body was already covered with bleeding wounds. Upon being questioned he bravely and clearly stated his faith. He said he had been in business for some years in Peking city when one day he became attracted to the street chapel of the London Mission, where daily preach- ing is carried on by the foreign missionaries and native helpers. Again and again he went to hear the new faith preached. He came to the conclusion that it was a good doctrine and one that met his soul's needs. So he asked for baptism, and after receiving instructions and attending the church for a year he was baptized. " This is my faith," he said in conclusion ; " I am not afraid and am quite ready for death. Whatever happens I shall not give up my religion." This statement was all written out at full length by the mandarin's writer and the prisoner signed it. THE FIERY TRIAL OF THE PEKING CHRISTIANS 107 After this Mr. Chang knelt down in the court and began to pray. The official seems to have been perplexed at the calm confession of a man in the position of Mr. Chang. He turned and left the court, not caring apparently to see the end of the victim. At once the Boxers fell upon him and killed the Christian martyr with swords. Mr. Chang's death seems to have made a great impression upon the Chinese official, for later on, in conversation with the missionary, he remarked, " How could I save his life when he said so boldly right out before them all that he was a Christian ? " That a man should have faith strong enough to be willing to die for his religion was quite beyond the heathen official's power to comprehend. CHAPTER VIII THROUGH THE STORM IN TIENTSIN CHAPTER VIII THROUGH THE STORM IN TIENTSIN "\T 7"HENI returned to Tientsin in the spring of 1903 I found the ^ ^ city so entirety changed that I could liardly discover a famihar spot. In 1900, for several weeks in succession, the Boxers, aided by the Imperial troops, had fired from the city walls into the foreign settlements, determined to wipe out for ever the " strangers from afar." It was not only against the foreigners that their anger turned, but every one in any way connected with foreign trade. The finest streets within the city were utterly destroyed by the looting and burning of the Boxers, and portions of this great city of immense wealth and perpetual industry became as silent as the grave, all because the merchants had foreign articles among their stock-in-trade. It was in the early spring of the year of trouble (1900) that I left Tientsin for home with my children. The Christians had invited me to a farewell tea-meeting in our beautiful Ma-chia-kou chapel. They decorated the walls with gay silken banners and scrolls (a common Chinese gift to departing friends) upon which their wishes were in- scribed in the picturesque characters of the Flowery Land. One bj^ one the church leaders arose and commended me and my children to the loving care of our Heavenly Father. They thought of me as one going forth into the perilous unknown, across a vast waste of waters, and had few words for their own possible danger. And indeed for many years past in China we had become so accustomed. CROSS AND CROWN to rumours of coming rebellion that at last, to a large extent, these ever increasing rumours fell upon unbelieving ears. But not many weeks later unmistakeable signs of the gathering ■storm appeared. Boxers were drilling in the streets of the city and vi^- A FOREIGN HOUSE IN TIENTSIN WRECKED DURING SIEGE. -lumours of the massacres of Christians came in from the countiy districts. Large numbers of the Christians hastily sought the protection of itheir missionaries ; and the compounds, lying beyond the limits of the ioreign concessions, in the suburbs of the native city, were ciowded THROUGH THE STORM IN TIENTSIN 113 with frightened Chinese women and children, together with their husbands and fathers. Their numbers were constantly reinforced by the worn-out refugees from the country stations, who brought news of terrible tortures and death inflicted upon their comrades by the Boxers. At the Sunday services of the Chinese church, held in the hospital on June 10, the strain was too great to admit of carrying out the STREET IN FRENCH SETTLEMENT AFTER SIEGE OF TIENTSIN. ordinary form of worship, and after a short address the Rev. T. Bryson called upon any of the Christians who felt led to do so, to offer prayer, or by some word of exhortation to strengthen the faith of their comrades. Many words of cheer and trust were spoken, and though some of the congregation were in tears, their faith was strengthened in the power of their Lord to save, even though it might be only the glittering H 114 CROSS AND CROWN sword or the fiery chariot which should deliver them from the cruelty of their persecutors. A few days more and the line of vengeance was drawn closer round the defenceless little band which was of the same faith as the foreigners, and large portions of the city and the settlements were in flames. The mission compounds were in the direct line of fire between the city and the foreign settlements, so that they were liable to be destroyed at any moment, and there seemed no hope of deliverance. But God had not forgotten His people, and He made a waj^ of escape for them, as wonderful as that of the Israelites from the pursuit of the Egyptians. In the British settlement, at the head of Messrs. Jardine, Matheson and Co., " the princely house of the East," was a Christian man, Mr. Edmund Cousins. His name should be held in high honour by all who pray for the coming of Christ's kingdom in China. He came forward and invited the missionaries to bring the native Christians into the shelter of his ware- houses, or go-downs, as they are called, within the settle- REV. T. BRYSON AND MR. EDMUND COUSINS. meUt. - ' ',„'-..■ ' THROUGH THE STORM IN TIENTSIN 115 It was a strange sight to see the long procession wending its way along the silent streets at early dawn — men, women, and little children, with all their earthly possessions destroyed except the little they •could carry with them. Some of them used to call the go-down " the ark," for they felt it God's place of refuge for them. It was divided across the centre into two parts, one for the men, the other lor the women. Several Chinese stoves were arranged along the wall of the THE WAREHOUSE IN WHICH THE NATIVE CHRISTIANS FOUND SHELTER. compound, and the kind host supplied an abundance of sacks of rice for food. Many remember that first day when the}^ sought this refuge. It was the Lord's day morning, and their old pastor. Rev. Jonathan Lees, preached to them upon " the faith that overcometh the world," while shells exploded and countless bullets whizzed through the air. n6 CROSS AND CROWN As in Peking, so in Tientsin, at the beginning of the siege the Christian Chinese were regarded as a nuisance and a danger by the foreign community ; but it was not long before it was discovered that without their help the necessarj' labour for the defence of the settle- ments could not have been accomplished, since servants and work- men had fled in such large numbers. The missionaries marshalled their people into order and worked with them. Some of the ladies superintended the laundry and other arrangements. The Rev. T. Bryson was head of the labour department, and no Chinaman was allowed to leave the compound without a pass from him. The Christians under his care carried ammunition and provisions, dug the numerous graves required day by day, and dragged the guns, while they built the numerous barricades under fire. The women picked camel's hair for pillows for the wounded, and were unwearying in their readi- ness to serve in any capacity. A few days later the peril of the settlements had reached an acute stage. Barricades were erected at short intervals along the roads and cross-roads, composed of bales of goods from the warehouses. It was believed the overwhelming Chinese army would attempt to rush the place, and it was decided that every foot of ground must be contested, for if the enemy was successful it meant that the great crowd of women and children, coped up within the battered walls of the Gordon Hall, as well as those within the warehouses, would be given up to death, and torture worse than death. At this time the settlements were full of spies who had managed to post themselves in deserted foreign houses, and the military authorities felt that the only safe plan was to drive every Chinaman out of the settlements, including the sheltered Christian workers. Once again Mr. Cousins interceded for them, reminding the ofhcers of the work that had been accomplished by their industry, and adding THROUGH THE STORM IN TIENTSIN 117 that if they were driven out, to be cut to pieces by the Boxers, their missionaries would certainly accompany them. Probably no foreigner in Tientsin could have spoken with equal authority, and his request that the Christians might remain was granted. Thus Mr. Cousins once again appeared as the " Christians' Protector," as they liked to call him. For many days Tientsin continued to be hard pressed, and soldiers who had passed through the darkest days of the Boer war declared they had never seen such attacks before as those made by these Chinese artillery-men who had been trained by foreigners, and were now using their knowledge against their teachers. It was at this time that it seemed imperative to get a message through to the fleet anchored at Taku, informing them of the serious straits to which Tientsin had been reduced. To go as a messenger at that time meant running the risk of a teiTible death ; yet one after another of the Chinese Christians volunteered for the dangerous task. A letter had been prepared asking for help from the admiral at Taku, and a man started on his dangerous errand. Half-way on the road he was attacked, but his carefully hidden letter was not discovered. He was flung into the river, dark with corpses, and left for dead. But before morning he struggled out, and managed to return, his letter soaked to a pulp and undecipherable. That night another of our Christians came to Mr. Bryson and offered to take a message. This time it was written in cipher, on the inner lining of the man's sock. The missionary, with an English officer, accompanied the brave man through the lines and wished him good-bye and God-speed at the lower gate of the mud waU nearest to Taku. He was never heard of again, though his little sons often came inquiring of the missionary as to their father's return. In this emergency, James Watts, a young Englishman of twenty- iiS CROSS AND CROWN two years of age, who had been born near Tientsin, and knew the country well, volun- teered to ride with despatches through the forty miles of country swarming with Boxers. He started imder cover of darkness, on a pony, with three mounted Cossacks. He had to speed through villages where men sat with rifles and fixed bayo- nets, and the party were in constant peril. At last they reached Taku unhurt, and the despatches were de- livered to the admiral. This brave act saved the lives of the be- sieged in Tientsin, and Mr. Watts was rewarded with a decoration from the British and other governments. The relieving party was welcomed by the besieged with great joy a full week after the Taku forts had been taken. But the arrival of the relief force at Tientsin did not mean the A HERO OF THE TIENTSIN SIEGE. {Jim Watts, the Despatch Carrier.) THROUGH THE STORM IN TIENTSIN 119 immediate deliverance of the foreign settlements from perpetual attack, as had been expected, and arrangements were therefore made for the departure of the ladies and children, and all the men who could be spared, to Japan or some other place of safety. The Rev. Jonathan Lees, who was in poor health and much shaken by the perils of the siege, with his wife and Dr. G. P. Smith, went i*'ki}^w^iMmi'mmMM^i>^Mm ,l!i«W;"„^.iJ!lli iiirrriTjiiWiTirr-ii- DMro r rnii ^ Ti iT i hj ii wi i iwi i if iirrflinTW;TViiia7miiia[fiii|ri~fthriri;riTi THE RELIEF OF TIENTSIN. ARRIVAL OF JAPANESE TROOPS, with this party. The doctor had worked constantly for the wounded and suffering, but the arrival of the military surgeons relieved him of this work. The Rev. T. Bryson and the Rev. A. and Mrs. King were then left to care for the native Christians. As the days went on, the settlements, which had now become a huge camp, were con- stantly bombarded from the fort near the city and the batteries on the north bank of the canal, and it was evident that something must 120 CROSS AND CROWN he done to relieve the situation and silence the guns which daily were doing much damage. There was hard fighting on July 13, and at the close of that day of horror, while Tientsin was incessantly bombarded, the battle-field was strewn with the wounded and the dying. The Rev. T. Bryson and an American missionary asked for volunteers from among the Christian natives to go with them to the relief of the suffer- ing. Immediately a large number offered their services, and though a part of the way lay across the open plain and bullets frequently whizzed about their heads, not one flinched. With cans of water and other restoratives they passed from one to another of the fallen men on that stifling summer night, and then spent the midnight hours in carrying the wounded forms on stretchers along the weary road to the hospital in the British concession. Many of the sufferers were Japanese, and the officers were much impressed and deeply grateful for the kind offices of the Christian Chinese. The Tientsin martyr roll was not so large as that of many other districts on account of the shelter provided by Mr. Cousins for mis- sionaries and converts. Still, not less than twelve members of the city church, and several members of the " Ma-chia-kou," laid down their lives for the Master's sake. One of these was Mr. Li, a Chinaman of considerable strength of character, who had been brought to Christ through hearing the Gospel preached in the city chapel. He became one of the church leaders, and was often to be seen in the intervals between his business hours preaching the good news to others. His business was flourishing, and he owned about twenty-five houses in different parts of the city. Mr. Li had one great sorrow which clouded his life ; it was the un- happy marriage of his only daughter, to whom he was deeply attached ; and he spent considerable sums in bribing her cruel husband to show her kindness. THROUGH THE STORM IN TIENTSIN 121 The Gospel seemed to bring a new and wonderful interest into his sad life. Dr. Lavington Hart, at the time of which I write, had charge of the city chapel, and when the missionary and native preacher had dehvered their message to the crowds which often thronged that preaching hall upon the busy street, Mr. Li would stand up and tell of the peace and gladness the new faith had brought to his own heart. RUINS OF MA-CHIA-KOII CHAPEL, TIENTSIN. As the preaching hall was just opposite the Brigadier-General's yamen, at a busy point in a busy street, Mr. Li became widely known as a Christian and a voluntary preacher. When chapels began to be placarded with notices of the date at which they would be destro}'ed, and letters containing the same warnings were thrown into the courtyards of the mission premises, people began to talk to Mr. Li about his foolishness in having con- nected himself with the foreigners, whose day of doom was now 122 CROSS AND CROWN close at hand. " The strangers from afar are to be driven into the sea ! " they said. " If they remain here every one will be killed, and all who have been deceived by them are in danger ! " Just at this time Mr. Li was very sad, for his beloved daughter had fallen sick and died, so he was almost heartbroken. But when he heard these words the fire came into his eyes and he lifted up his head and said bravely, " Do not bring me these idle rumours ; the thing cannot be done. ' Burn the chapels and kill the foreigners,' you say. But our God is able to protect His own. He is stronger than the wrath of evil men ! " Before long tidings of the massacre and sufferings of the Christians came in from the country districts, and then the roar of the guns was heard in Tientsin itself. Some of the elders of the church went to Mr. Li's home and urged him to seek shelter with the rest of the Christians, under the protection of the missionaries. At first he refused, but later he went down to the Mission and saw the Rev. J. Lees. The numbers seeking refuge were so large that it was difficult to shelter any but Christians, though in some cases many relatives outside the church wished to accompany them. Mr. Lees remarked that he feared it would be difficult to shelter more than the Christians themselves, as it was they who were special objects of the Boxers' hatred. " Then it is impossible for me to come," replied Mr. Li, " as I cannot leave my wife and daugliter-in-law, who are not believers. Moreover I do not think there is any danger. I am putting my faith in God. He will protect me ! " As the days passed by and the lonely Christian, in the midst of the hostile city, heard that the chapel in which he had so often preached had been burned to the ground, and that the foreigners were being shelled in the settlement, he became utterly dismayed. • How was this ? Could not the Lord in whom he trusted protect His own ? THROUGH THE STORM IN TIENTSIN 133 Then for six days he shut himself up in his own liouse and would speak to no one. His heart was shaken with a sore tumult. From the accounts of some who saw him at this time, it seems as if the Lord at last spoke peace to his troubled heart, and he determined once more to go out into the city and see what was happening. As he was looking round one of the streets, formerly lined with fine shops, which the wrath of the Boxers had almost destroyed, Mr. Li was recognized by a man who had often seen him preaching in the chapel. This man informed a band of Boxers, who forthwith seized the Christian. But many of his heathen neighbours pleaded for his release ; " he was a good man," they said, "and guilty of no crime." So after some discussion he was released. A few days after, when he was in the streets again, he was seized once more and bound. " Why do you want to injure me ? " asked Mr. Li quietly. " I am a Tientsin man, and you are all Tientsin men. What have you against me ? " " You are a Christian," they answered, " one of the sect that must be utterly destroyed ! " And then many voices were raised, shouting, " Beat him ! kill the secondary devil ! " " Why do you shout and revile me like this ? I have done no harm to any man," he said. Then he added solemnly, " You think you can banish the Christian faith from this land by destroying the believers ; but remember that it is China itself that will be destroyed by these deeds, and never the religion of Jesus ! " Then he began to preach to them salvation through Christ. He urged them to repent of their evil deeds and seek the forgiveness of Jesus, and to begin leading better lives. This only enraged the mob more and more, and they hurried him along, bound as he was, till they reached the ruins of the Drum Tower Chapel. " You shall preach to us here, if you can, as long as you like," they shouted, and then cruel t24 CROSS AND CROWN swords cut him down and soon beheaded him. They nailed his head ■on the ruins of the chapel, so that it could be seen by passers-by, and then amused themselves by making a mock of it, crying out, " Preach to us now, as you used to do ! Tell us of Jesus, who you say can protect the Christians ! " Another Christian who died for his faith was a lad named Chow, whom I had known for many years in Tientsin. At one time he assisted Dr. Smith's dispensers in the hospital and came regularly to my English class. He was a bright, pleasant lad, very anxious to improve himself. A friend succeeded in obtaining for him a situation in the office of one of the stations on the Imperial Railway. He was ■doing well in his post when news was telegraphed down the line that the Boxers were preparing to attack Tientsin. Chow determined to get leave of absence and see what he could do for his mother, who was, he feared, in Tientsin city. When he arrived he found that his mother was not with the other Christians in Mr. Cousin's warehouse ; so, notwithstanding the danger, he determined to search for her up in the native citv. He found her with some of her friends, in a mud cottage, close to the ■south gate, and did his best to prevail upon them to seek safety in flight, and if possible to join the other Christians in the foreign settle- ment. Both in Peking and Tientsin there were some Christians who hesitated to avail themselves of the shelter provided by the mis- sionaries, because they thought it likelj' they might be safer awa}^ from their foreign teachers, against whom the Boxers' hatred burned so fiercely. But young Chow had arrived too late to save his mother, for next morning a band of Boxers seized the little group of Christians and hurried them away to execution. Some of the old women were thrown into a state of great terror and could hardly walk along the narrow THROUGH THE STORM IN TIENTSIN 125 Streets, but a bj^stander relates that young Chow tried to comfort and cheer them. " One sharp stroke with the sword," he said, " and all will be over, for we shall be forever in the presence of the Lord." One of our deacons, named Wang, happily escaped massacre and still lives to work for Christ and His church. He is a business man and had five shops in the city. Three of them were destroyed by the Boxers, and one day, during his absence, his aged father and five of his shopmen were bound and carried off to a temple for execu- tion. The Boxers, how- ever, had a difference of opinion about some mat- ter, and while engaged in quarrelling they forgot their captives ! Towards morning they were released by friendly neighbours, but they had suffered almost the agonies of death during that anxious night. When Tientsin city was taken and the Provisional Government came into power they issued a proclamation asking that all who had suffered loss at the hands of the Boxers should send in their claims by a certain date. Mr. Wang came to consult with Mr. Bryson about the matter. DEACON WANG, OF TIENTSIN. 126 CROSS AND CROWN and asked whether it would be right for him, as a Christian, to accuse the men who had destroyed his shops and ill-treated his father. His pastor told him that he would certainly be within his rights as a citizen in doing this, but if he had any qualms of conscience about the matter, it would be better for him not to do anything. "Suppose you go to the men," suggested Mr. Bryson, "and tell them that you know of their guilt, but that you will not accuse them if they promise to make good your losses." "Oh, but they are all poor men," replied Mr. Wang. " I could not do that. And if I accuse them and they are put to death, what shall I have gained ? I could not bear it. I want to do them good, not harm. I would rather save them, and see them repent and become good men." So he decided to make no accusation against his enemies, but to try to win them over instead to faith in Christ. It was difficult to make some of the Christians understand, as they looked over the walls of the Mission compound, and saw the deserted homes of their persecutors with all their household goods left behind, why thej' might not help themselves. But their missionary's orders were decided and peremptory. If any one touched anything in these deserted homes he would afterwards be refused the protection of the Mission. Most of the leaders among the Christians warmly supported their pastor in this decision, and very few, if any, offences were committed by them. Among them was Mr. Liu Feng-kang, a man of considerable ability, who is now tutor to the Theological School and assistant to Mr. Bryson. For many months Tientsin was not a peace- ful place of residence, though its streets were crowded with troops wearing all the various uniforms of the Western world. Many of the Boxers found it convenient to apply for the post of interpreters to THROUGH THE STORM IN TIENTSIN 127 the officers, and in this way on several occasions they succeeded in troubling the Christians and their missionaries. One Christian was accused of having hidden firearms in his com- pound, and while digging there a bag of dollars he had buried when leaving his home was discovered and confiscated. In this difficulty the convert asked the intervention of Mr. Bryson, who went up to see the foreign officials about the matter, with the result that both missionary and convert were imprisoned for the night, the native being secured with heavy chains. Next day a German officer rode up to the city and when he heard the case he at once released the two prisoners, with many apologies. As very severe justice was being dealt out at this time, and capital punishment was awarded for almost every breach of the law, Mr. Bryson refused to prosecute the men who had put him into the prison. A few days later they came down to the Mission compound to knock their heads and express their gratitude for the missionary's leniency. CHAPTER IX HOW THEY DIED FOR CHRIST IN THE YEN-SHAN DISTRICT CHAPTER IX HOW THEY DIED FOR CHRIST IN THE YEN-SHAN DISTRICT YEN-SHAN is one of those districts in North Cliina wliich remind the traveller of the great prairies of the Western States of America. The vast plain is bounded onlj^ by the horizon, and for a great part of the year the prevailing colour of the whole country is that of yellowish earth, giving little rest or change to the eyes of the spectator. Yet in this district the hearts of men have been touched by the ■wondrous Gospel story, and no field has yielded so great an army of martyrs, to follow in the footsteps of their crucified Master. The headquarters of the Mission had been removed, not long before the Boxer rising, to Tsang-chow, a town of some importance on the 'Grand Canal. When the storm burst the missionaries were warned by one of the Chinese officials and fled by night, crossing the ferry between banks crowded with Boxer troops, who only waited for their leaders' orders to cut them down. This leader had been providentially detained ; so the missionaries were allowed to pass on and succeeded in making their way to the coast unharmed. The native Christians had been advised to scatter themselves some days before ; a few escaped to the coast and joined the mission- aries ; some managed to cross the border into Shantung province, where they were protected by the Governor, Yuan Shih-kai, though at / 132 CROSS AND CROWN one time it seemed almost impossible he could hold the Boxer hordes in check. I have just visited this district — " the martyr land of China," as it may be called — and passing from one town or village to another, I found that nearly every member of the earnest congregations^ DR. PEILL AND MR. MURR.4Y TRAVELLING TO YEN-SHAN ON THE GRAND CANAL. gathered in the temporary chapels, had lost one or more of their nearest and dearest, and had themselves been desolate, afflicted, tormented,, suffering the loss of all things for Jesus' sake. We can never meet with such a condition of things in England, and it stirs one's heart strangely to meet with it here in this great heathen land. HOW THEY DIED FOR CHRIST IN YEN-SHAN DISTRICT 133 The martvr roll of this Yen-shan district includes the names of ^ nearly two hundred and fifty persons, some of them being wee laddies and girls in our schools. And this takes no count of the large numbers who died soon after from the results of the time of horror and suffering, having themselves received cruel treatment or died from the shock of hearing of the agonies endured by their dear ones. Yen-shan district lay just between the forces of General Mei on the one hand, driving the Boxers out of the country under his control southward, and the forces of Governor Yuan, pushing them northward out of Shantung on the other. The country- side therefore swarmed with Box- ers, who wreaked their fury upon the Christians to the very uttermost. Some of the Chris- tians disguised them- selves and fled under general mei. 134 CROSS AND CROWN cover of the smoke from their burning homes and Mission churches. They lay down in ditches by the way-side, the fierce summer sun almost blinding them with its incessant glare. In the night they lay down in the great millet furrows and poured out their hearts in an agony to their Lord, cheering one another with words of hope and faith and thoughts of the heavenly home that was now so near. No one but God knows what they suffered during those weary weeks of wandering and persecution. It is almost certain that every Christian in this district would have been put to death but for one or two circumstances. One thing was that they were not far from the Shantung border. Another fortunate thing was the great height of the summer crops, especially the millet. This was so tall that it enabled people to walk about the country without being seen from a distance, as they otherwise must have been, on a plain so vast and comparatively treeless. In addition to this, the Mahommedan population, which is very large in the Yen-shan district, was almost as much hated by the Boxers as the Christians were. Quite near to Yen-shan there are five Mahommedan villages. Hordes of Boxers surrounded the unsus- pecting people and massacred them to the number of over one thou- sand. Men, women, and little children were killed barbarously. The Mahommedans soon after rose in revenge and killed every Boxer they could find. On my recent visit to Yen-shan town the Christians gathered together and invited me to a tea-meeting. By my side sat a dear old blind woman with such a sweet peaceful expression on her face. She had been a Christian for many long years and was only spared by the Boxers because they thought a blind woman would not be of much use in spreading the doctrine. Another old woman by her side was only saved by being carried on the back of a brave young grand- HOW THEY DIED FOR CHRIST IN YEN-SHAN DISTRICT 135 daughter into the wilderness of the desolate plain, where for many days they lived on leaves and roots. Just opposite to me sat our young preacher, named Teng Yii-chen. His mother was a woman held in high respect by all the Chinese because she was so kind and charitable. Her husband had been killed in the Tai-ping rebellion, when she was young, but she had never married again. She and her son had both been believers for many years. When the troubles commenced, it was thought best for Mrs. Teng to take refuge in her mother's home. When matters became more serious, and they heard of the burning of the Yen-shan "Chapel, and the massacre of the Christians, thej' thought it better for her to leave and go to a relative living farther away. But these people dared not take her in, so she hid in some ruins just outside the village. Mr. Teng, who was deeply attached to his mother, is a tall fine- looking man and would be easily recognized by the persecutors. He became anxious about his mother, hearing that she had left her place of refuge, so he sought her out. Every night he went to her hiding place among the fields, carrying her food and trying to cheer her sad heart. But she implored him to flee for his life. " If you love me," she said, " leave off coming to see me. I can but die ; I have no strength to flee ; but you must live and preach the Gospel to others." For days Mr. Teng refused to listen to her pleadings ; but at last, seeing the distress this caused her, he brought her a supply of food sufficient for some little time, and then, almost broken-hearted, with great unwillingness he did as she wished. He escaped to the coast, and for a time earned enough to live upon as a pedlar. Before long he made his way to Tientsin, which by this time had been relieved, and at last reached the Mission where the rest of the Christians were sheltered, and was welcomed by Mr. Bryson. Meanwhile his mother, hiding among the ruins with some other 136 CROSS AND CROWN Christians, for a time escaped detection, living on the leaves of trees, grass and nuts. But one day Mrs. Teng and her mother-in-law were seized and carried to one of the chief headquarters of the Boxers — the Temple of the God of War (who is the patron of the present Chinese dynasty). Here they were placed in a small close room, to be kept till a number more Christians had been arrested. Mrs. Teng begged that her mother-in-law might be released. " I am not afraid to die," she said ; " indeed I am quite ready ; but save my relative's life." Strange as it seems, the Boxers yielded to her entreaties, perhaps because of the high estimation in which she was held by all. Mrs. Teng had to endure close confinement for five days and was taken, like the other Christians, to the Temple of the City God and there urged to burn incense at the idol shrine. Like all the others, she firmly refused to save her life thus. So she was taken out to the execution ground with many others, and there they suffered a violent death at the hands of the Boxers. The persecutors would not allow the remains to be buried for some time, this being part of the punishment of criminals. But by and by, some of the Christians ventured to bury the bones, and when Mr. Teng returned, he had all he could find enclosed in a coffin and placed in a small enclosure until the Yen-shan memorial to the martyrs is complete. The Yen-shan Christians, out of their poverty, have subscribed over £50 in order that a fitting memorial to their martyred dead may be erected. It is to take the form of a hall, in which tablets to their memory will be placed on the walls. Another man, who is now my son's teacher in Tsang-chow, had some marvellous escapes. He is the head man of his village, and a neighbour who coveted the position informed the Boxers that he was a Christian. He described Mr. Yii as a " weak-eyed man," for the HOW THEY DIED FOR CHRIST IN YEN-SHAN DISTRICT 139 Boxers did not know him personally and he was the only Christian in that village. When he heard that the Boxers were coming in search of him, he gathered his family together and commended them to the Heavenly Father's care. Then, having put on his best clothes, and a pair of dark spectacles such as scholars often wear in China, Mr. Yii walked calmly out into the midst of the furious Boxers, who were by this time surrounding his house. Seeing a well-dressed gentleman walk out with the greatest calmness, the Boxers did not dream he was the man they sought, and allowed him to pass through their midst quietly ! Another man, suffering from weak eyes, was seized on the assumption that he was Mr. Yii, and was at once put to death. Strange to say this man turned out to be the son of the neighbour who had informed against Mr. Yii, and who had brought the Boxers to the village — a dramatic retribution indeed ! Mr. Yii escaped to the bed of a river, not far away, and hid in a hollow near a grove of trees. Many crows had their nests in these trees, and they flew out cawing in alarm at the appearance of the stranger. The inhabitants of a mud hut near by came out to discover what was disturbing them, and Mr. Yii was in great danger of being discovered. But he escaped and after many adventures reached Tientsin. The other day he led us round the places associated with such anxious days in his life. Some of the martyrs who witnessed a noble confession and met their death with the greatest calmness were women, several of whom had worked with great enthusiasm as Bible-women under Miss Kerr and Miss Esam (now Mrs. G. P. Smith). One of these was Mrs. Li Liu-shih, who had been the means of start- ing Christian work in her own village of Yang Hsiao-ying. She was naturally amiable and kind, and was celebrated for her hospitahty. I40 CROSS AND CROWN She was a tower of strength among the other women, and many out- side the church sought her advice in times of trouble. When the Boxers first attacked the Christians and were hunting and killing every one suspected of having any connexion with the foreign faith, Mrs. Li was allowed to go free, because she was so celebrated for her good deeds, though five of her nearest relatives were captured and executed. On June 22, a Boxer leader named Hwang-tang came to her home with a number of followers and seized the good woman. To her horror Mrs. Li recognized in this man one she had nursed as a child, during his mother's illness. They were a poor family, and she had taken the child into her home, for long periods at a time, and loved him as if he were her own son. " Let some one else seize me ! " she exclaimed, " and not you, Hwang-tang, for whom I have cared as my own flesh and blood ! I am willing to go, but let some one else bind me ! I am not sorry for myself, but I am grieved to the heart that you should do this thing." Hwang pretended not to understand her. " I have no idea what you are talking about," he said, " I hope to be the first to smite you." The good woman then bent her head and prayed. " Lord, I pray Thee forgive him, for he knows not what he is doing." She continued in prayer, but was rudely interrupted by the Boxer band who wished to hurry her off to their camp. But on the way Hwang suddenly became filled with demoniac rage against her. They fell upon her with their swords, slashing her to death, and Hwang struck the first blow. Another notable martyr in this district was a man named Fan V Hao-tseh, of Chan Hwa, a station opened many years ago by Dr. Edkins and afterwards handed over by the L.M.S. to the Methodist Mission. He heard the Gospel first in one of the out-stations of the HOW THEY DIED FOR CHRIST IN YEN-SHAN DISTRICT 141 L.M.S., and in course of time was baptized, and became eventually the Mission postman and carrier, frequently walking the ninety miles between Tientsin and Yen-shan. Through tropical heat, and the bitter cold of a north China winter, he kept at his task faithfully and cheerfully, never failing in being up to time. Fan was always delighted to do a kindness for any one, and was never so happy as when one gave him an additional parcel, even though it added to the weight of his mail bags, which he carried on his own back. He never liked to accept gifts for a kindness done, as I can testify from frequent experience. The Rev. D. S. Murray writes of Fan that on one occasion he even refused a rise in wages, on the ground that he had enough to live upon, and " did not wish to grow a covetous disposition." Such a character seems almost too good to live in a country like China, where " cash " is the chief topic of conversation, especially when one remembers that at this time Fan's wages only amounted to a little more than those of an ordinary coolie. He was liked and respected by all the Christians for his kind and generous disposition. In June, 1900, the missionaries thought, as trouble. seemed inevit- able, it would be wise for all the Christians to escape to places where they were unknown or to find refuge with their friends. When Fan and his family reached his native place his own relatives refused to receive him, and even said that if he did not leave the village they would kill him themselves. It was indeed some members of his own clan who betrayed him, and they came and rifled the house where he was staying. He was not to be found at first, so the Boxers seized one of his cousins and said that if Fan could not be found this man must suffer in his stead. In his hiding place Fan heard these words and came forward at once, saying " It is I only who am a beUever in Jesus. 142 _ CROSS AND CROWN I do not wish to involve any one else in trouble on my account. You can do with me what you will." At once the cruel band seized the brave man and bound him ; then they took him outside the village, into the country. As he stood there, a deep pit was dug— deeper than the height of a man, and into this he was lowered, till his head was below the level of the ground. Then with jeers and taunts they urged him to give up the faith of the foreigners and save his life, while they filled the earth up to his knees. He kept on speaking to the cruel mob, kindly and sweetly, of the love of Jesus, and of all the joy He had brought into his heart. " How can I give Him up ? How can I deny such a Master ? " he asked. They got so angry that they pierced his body with the points of their spears till the blood flowed. Then filling up the grave for the living man, first to his breast and then to his lips, they gave him a last chance of life. " No, I can never give up Jesus," he said. Then they hurriedly covered his noble head with earth, stamping it down over the still living body, and so Fan went home to the Lord he loved so well. A noble martyr's death, surely, in its meek submission and brave triumphing over earthly environment, worthy to be read with that of the saints of the early church. Another brave martyr was Liu Chao-San, who was gate-keeper of the Mission compound at Yen-shan. He was not an attractive-looking man and was quite uneducated. He had been a soldier formerly, but was now a very devout Christian. When Mr. Murray received him into the church in 1895 he re- members that Liu found it somewhat difficult to answer clearly all the questions from the catechism. He said, " I cannot answer clearly, HOW THEY DIED FOR CHRIST IN YEN-SHAN DISTRICT 143 ^-t^-l' RUINS OF L.M.S. CHAPEL AT YEN-SHAN. because I am an uneducated man. I only know this — There is a river ; on one side of it is hell, and on this side is heaven. I know that I have crossed this river and am now on my way to heaven." Before June 6, Liu escaped from Yen-shan with his wife, and they hid in a river bed about five miles from the town. By day they separated, but at night, in the dark, they managed to meet beneath a bridge. Here the Boxers at last discovered Liu and prepared to kill him, for he was well-known as a Christian. " Just wait a minute," he said, " and I will sing one of our hymns to you." " Sing away," they said, for a wonder yielding to his request. Then in a loud clear voice he sang the well-known hymn, " He leadeth 144 CROSS AND CROWN me, oh blessed thought," and after that he commenced " Forward be our watchword." He had just reached the verse " Glories upon glories hath our God prepared," when the Boxers shouted out, " Hao ! Hao ! " (" Good ! good ! ") partly perhaps applauding his courage, and also in mockery, for in this way performers are cheered at a Chinese theatrical entertainment. " We must not kill this man ! " exclaimed one Boxer. " We must let him off." But the others scoffed at the idea. They quickly bound him fast with strong cords and placed him near to the mouth of a cannon, which they fired ; and so he passed to the joy of which he had sung. The Boxers still speak of the strong and resolute bearing of Liu and his fearlessness in the face of death. It has made a great impression upon them. One of the first Christians baptized in the village of Yang-chia-chai was a man of the name of Jen Kwei-san. This place is about seven miles north of Yen-shan and Mr. Jen took an active part in the founding of the church there. It was a strong and independent body of Christians, well-known for their zeal in the study of the Scriptures and their anxiety to support their own services. The church buildings in the Yen-shan district are nearly aH pro- vided by the people themselves. The cost of repairs, and all current expenses, with the exception of the native evangelists' salaries, are met by the Christians, without the help of the L.M.S. In this self-support the church of Yang-chia-chai was beginning to take a leading part. The most zealous members belonged to the Jen family, and one of the sons, called Jen-Kwei-fen, was a pattern to all. He was a beautiful type of the full grown Christian in his- HOW THEY DIED FOR CHRIST IN YEN-SHAN DISTRICT 145 J^/tota ty) [ARNOLD G. BRVSON. CHILDREN OF MARTYRED CHRISTIANS AT YANG CHIA-CHAI. patience, humility and faith, and a most earnest worlier on behalf of the church. " I can well remember," writes Mr. Murray, " how the women of the family would rise very early, on Sunday morning, to grind the meal for the day in time, so that all might go together to worship. Every night family worship was attended by all the members and near relatives, some thirty in all." I also remember when Mr. Shao first came to Yen-shan, how they kept him preaching at their village one night from eight or nine o'clock in the evening till two in the morning ! K / 146 CROSS AND CROWN On June i8, when the Boxers were drawing their bands around the church at Yang-chia-chai, most of the Jen family, to the nimiber of seventeen, got carts and decided to make their way to the sea-coast. In passing a village nearly fifteen miles away, they were surrounded by Boxers. They were seized and bound and a guard set over them. One woman was a deaf mute and the Boxers set her free, saying that it was impossible for one so afflicted to believe the Gospel. PtKitd ij'J [Arnold G. Bryson. MRS. JEN AND HER CHILDREN. One of the Boxers, name Chang, claimed relationship with the wife of one of the sons, and begged for her life. At first she refused to leave her husband. She said, " We have lived together and now we will die together." Then seeing her three little girls and her brother in-law's three wee HOW THEY DIED FOR CHRIST IN YEN-SHAN DISTRICT 147 boys she said, " Let these children live and I too will live and care for them." She says the thought occurred to her that if she did not do this there would be no one left to carry on the name of Jen. Strangely enough her request was granted and she got away with the precious charge. She is a capable woman, sweet faced, but firm. Her portrait, which I persuaded her to allow my son to take, with three of the children under her care, does not at all do her justice. Prayer is greatly needed for these six orphan children of martyred parents, for they are to some extent under the influence of a heathen uncle who is opposed to Christianity. The youngest child, a dear, wee boy of four, standing at his foster-mother's knee, can remember nothing of the sad events of 1900 ; but surely the other laddies will never forget them. The doomed company were taken to an open space, used as an execution ground, and the Boxers came swarming in on all sides, till there was an immense crowd of several thousand persons. One young man of the Jen family got loose from his bonds and pushed into the crowd. He dared not move away lest he should attract notice, so he had to be an unwilling witness of all that followed. The Boxers in a loud voice called out to the Christians to " kneel," but as this was looked upon as an act of heathen worship, most of them refused to do so. Jen Kwei-san, the father of the family, nearly seventy years of age, asked to be allowed to say a few words. " Be quick then," they answered roughly. The old man then turned to his family with tear- filled eyes, and said, " Let us all bend our heads in prayer." They all did so, and then with uplifted hands, in a loud, clear voice, Jen prayed for all. The Boxers leaders became very angry and shouted, " What ! Do you still continue in your evil ways ? You are truly followers of 148 CROSS AND CROWN foreigners ! " They lashed at him with their swords, cruelly muti- lating his face, but still he continued in prayer. Then in dreadful voices, hoarse with passion, the Boxers shouted', " Kill ! kill ! " and rushed upon the Christians. Soon there was PAo.'^ ^j'J [A KNOLD G. BrVSON, SURVIVORS OF THE CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY AT YANG-CHIA-CHAI. silence ; they had all passed out of the reach of their cruel persecutors^ and been received into the Father's House. As I stood near to the execution ground, close by the ruins of an ancient, forgotten city, deserted for many hundred years, until the Boxers made a camp in the vast area within its walls, the whole scene- pictured itself before my eyes and T felt sick at heart. " Oh, that such. HOW THEY DIED FOR CHRIST IN YEN-SHAN DISTRICT 149 things should be on God's green earth, beneath God's blue sky ! " Stooping down, close by the pits where after many days of exposure the bones of the departed were buried, I picked up the sole of a wee Chinese shoe, a relic of one of the child martyrs, and thought of the little wearer driven violently out of the world, into the arms of the Good Shepherd. CHAPTER X BEARING THE CROSS IN THE CHI CHOU DISTRICT CHAPTER X BEARING THE CROSS IN THE CHI CHOU DISTRICT CHI CHOU is another large country district in North China, which many years ago was iirst visited from Tientsin by the late Rev. Jonathan Lees. Famine relief was distributed there in time of great need and many people then heard the Gospel story for the first time. One of the earliest Chinese martyrs, the Rev. Jas. Williamson, was killed in a boat in the Grand Canal while journeying towards this place ; and the Rev. J. S. Barradale was there stricken with the fever which ended his active young life. In the note book in which Mr. Barradale entered items during his last days, was found a prayer requesting that his little son (then in Tientsin) might be accepted by the Master for missionary service. That prayer was answered when the Rev. V. A. Barradale was sent out by the L.M.S. a few years ago to Samoa, an island in the southern seas. About fifteen years ago the village of Hsiao Chang became ttie chief centre for the Chi Chou district, and the Rev. W. Hopkyn Rees and Dr. Sewell McFarlane went to reside there. In the chapter about the Boxers I have quoted Mr. Rees' account of the earlier attacks made by these people upon the Chi Chou Mission. He goes on to relate what happened in June, igoo, when the mission- aries and their families had to flee for their lives. The Mission compound was completely demolished. Nearly every chapel in the district (fifty in all) was destroyed, and out of a mem- 153 IS4 CROSS AND CROWN V B \BY S FIRST JOURNEY ON THE GRAND CANAL. bership of nearly eight hundred persons only a few dozen escaped the looting or destruction of house and home or payment of heavy ransoms.^ The tale of murder is still more sad to relate. Though we lost by massacre fewer than in Peking and Ts'ang Chow, our losses were heavy. Our total deaths are as follows : church members, 49 ; enquirers and adherents, 72 ; children, 26 ; or 147 in all. In several cases great barbarity was used before the cruel deed was done. Some were cut to pieces, others had their eyes gouged out, and some few were beheaded. In most cases the Boxers were called in by the neighbours, and in one case by a father to kill his own son. Most of the Boxers became so for the time that the storm raged, and 1 The remainder of this chapter is from an account written by Mr. Rees himself. BEARING THE CROSS IN THE CHI CHOU DISTRICT 155 then ceased to be so after having wreaked vengeance on those whom they had some grudge against. In fact, the Boxer uprising was an opportunity that many had waited for to pay off old scores, as, alas ! many of the converts had enemies, even in their own household, who had often annoyed and threatened them even in times of peace. When law had ceased to be in the province, the chance came to strike, and the blows were terrible and relentless, so that many of our most earnest converts went under, and were driven into eternity without notice, without opportunity of escape, and without choice. Mrs. Chang was baptized by the Rev. A. ICing fifteen years before. She was a member of the small band of Christians which used to meet regularly every Sabbath when we moved down to take charge of the Mission. For some time she was nurse in my family, but she was too old and deaf to be of great service. Her sons had persecuted her very bitterly on account of her religion, but by and by she saw them both sitting at the same Lord's Table, as the results cf her prayers and efforts. The cruel enemy caught her one afternoon, dragged her to the temple, and gave her a chance to save her life by denying Christianity. " I have served Him for fifteen years, and I am not going to turn my back upon Him now," she exclaimed. " I fear none of you, nor do I fear death, as I shall go home to Him who died for me." Chou was a colporteur. He was among the first that I baptized after settling here. He was a man of some means, much originality, and great earnestness. His was a death worthy of the heroes of the early centuries. The Boxers reached his house, tied up his mother, and dragged them to a temple where five other converts were in bonds. The Boxer leader offered them their hves on condition that they burned incense and worshipped idols. Mr. Chou said : " For seven years I 156 CROSS AND CROWN have served Christ, and He has never failed me, and He will not for- sake me now. I cannot and will not worship any save Jesus." He A CHRISTIAN BOOK AND TRACT SELLER. {The Chinese characters mean "Books of the Jesus Religion.") then began a hymn, and the others were urged to join, which they did. Then the Boxers terribly mutilated his mother, who was eighty years old. In spite of the horror of such a sight, he held out unflinchingly, BEARING THE CROSS IN THE CHI CHOU DISTRICT 157 and prayed for his murderers. So they died, all of them with either a song or a prayer on their lips. Li was a deacon, a man of iine build and sweet disposition. He was tied up when trying to work his way through to warn the converts of their peril. Li remained firm, though he was offered life repeatedly from morn till dusk, tied up to a tree outside a village. It is pathetic to me that he cried out for me (I was in England at the time) and sent me a message that he would be waiting for me en the other shore. He was cruelly mutilated. His murderer, w ho ha d boasted of the deed, died last winter in great agony and remorse. Sang had been a Taoist priest, and had bequeathed his temple to the Mission. That led to much contro- versy with the local gentry, and we relin- quished it on condition that it should be used as a school. When the troubles came, he was gagged and taken to the place where he had ministered as priest for forty years, and which had been built by himself. tHE CHI CHOU POSTMAN. 158 CROSS AND CROWN They laughed him to scorn, reviled him, insulted him, but he never flinched. His head was cut off by a blow of the sword, and put on a pole in front of the temple. Last December I baptized a 3/oung man, whose story is full of interest. His eldest brother had been killed and mutilated by the Boxers, his own father having called them in to work the evil deed. But the brother had often urged the younger one to believe on Christ, and enter the church. It was when he found such calm trust in Christ, and determination to cling to Him even at the cost of his life, on the part of his brother, that he decided there must be something in the religion of Jesus which he had never known before. So he came to Christ, and he told me, " I do not want the church roll to be without a representative of my family." And thus the tale goes on. In some cases, the converts denied their faith, but such instances were not more than a dozen, and it is only fair to state that the people who thus denied Christ simply meant to save their lives by promising to renounce the church, though they had no intention of carrying out the promise. Such conduct appears to us reprehensible, but in almost every case these people still attend our churches. A few walk no more with Jesus. They fear persecu- tion in the future, and are too weak. Such deserve, not condemnation, but S3mipathy, and we cannot but hope their faith will grow strong, and they may come back to us again. The stories related above could be multiplied by the score ; but these will suffice to show what love to Christ and trust in Him was shown at this time of great suffering and trial. CHAPTER XI SOME DEVOTED PREACHERS CHAPTER XI SOME DEVOTED PREACHERS I HAVE already written of the Theological School in Tientsin, where the brave pastor Shao of Yen-shan was trained for his life work. Through all these years, the succession of students has still been kept up, and young preachers have been sent out all over our North China mission field. They had not all the advantage of an arts course such as we should be glad for all our helpers to receive, were it possible. The higher education has made progress slowly in North China, where so many of our missionaries have had their time more than filled with the pressure of the evangelistic work of the Mission. But though they had not all the advantages of the higher education, many of them were deeply impressed with the sacred charge they received as ministers of Jesus Christ, and many of tl"iem chose death rather than desert their posts. For some time before 1900 a number of the students used to spend two evenings in the week with me, learning a little English, and I knew them well. One of these was a pleasant quiet young fellow, of the name of Chin Shao-chien. I was interested in him, but I doubt if I should have selected him from many others as the bravest of the brave. He was betrothed to a bright young girl in our Peking School, in •whom Miss Kerr took special interest, and there was an interesting 161 L 1 62 CROSS AND CROWN little wedding in our Mission Chapel, when Chin's course was over. The bride looked far happier than most Chinese brides do ! The young husband and wife were appointed to T'sang-chow in the Yen-shan district at that time, and there did good and faithful work. Mr. Chin's father had been a colporteur in connexion with the Presby- GENERAL JEN, A FRIENDLY OFFICIAL IN THE T'SANG-CIIOW DISTRICT. terian Mission in Manchuria, and as a boy Shao-chien had often helped his father to sell the holy books of the "Jesus religion." The young couple had a happy home, and after a time a little child came to gladden them. But Shao-chien was often sad. At that time no foreign missionary resided in the city to cheer and advise SOME DEVO'lED PREACHERS 163 him, and few seemed willing to listen to his message. There was much wickedness around him, as in every Chinese city, and it saddened his young heart. The Christians sometimes asked him why he looked so depressed, and he replied, " The world is so full of sorrow and misery and sin, it is not easy to be happy. Christ was well named the ' man of sorrows,' for He knew so well the measure of the world's sin." When matters reached a critical stage in T'sang Chow city, young Mr. Chin was very anxious to remain at his post ; but his father did not think this was wise and urged him strongly to go south. He left his post with his father very unwillingly, and in a day or so arrived at Ku-cheng on the Grand Canal. The j'oung man's wife and child had previously been sent to Tai-tsz-ying, an out-station of the Chi- chou Mission, where some of their relatives lived. The father and son stayed for a time in Ku-cheng, but their money being exhausted, young Mr. Chin decided to pawn some of his clothes. When he had done so, seeing the crowds of people outside the pawn-shop door, the idea occurred to him that it was a grand opportunity for preaching the Gospel. All thought of the need of caution was forgotten in the desire to proclaim the message of salva- tion. The listeners marvelled at the courage of the young preacher, and one man was so touched that he asked Shao-chien to come to his home, giving him food and supplying his needs. Mr. Chin regretted that he had nothing to give in return for these ministries, but offered the pawn-ticket, which was refused. Soon after the father and son travelled to Tai-tsz-ying and the young man was united to his wife and child. They found that the Boxers were everywhere searching for the Christians ; so they took shelter in a brick-kiln, near at hand. But all the time young Chin kept breaking out into sacred songs, and this led the Boxers to their y 164 CROSS AND CROWN hiding-place. They dragged liim out and bound him ; but his face was calm and bright. " He seemed quite glad," they said, " that his itime had come." The young preacher was taken to the chapel and bound to the door- posts. Even then he continued to raise his voice in hymns of praise. He sang, " Mighty God, while angels bless Thee, may a mortal lisp Thy praise." Hearing it, the Boxers' cruel hearts were touched and ■they could not but admire such courage ! At last one of their leaders said to him, " You are a stranger in the place, and we do not wish to kill you. K you will promise no longer to follow the for- eign doctrines we will let you off ! " Young Chin replied quietly, " You talk about foreign doctrines and ask me not to follow them. That would be easy! What you really mean is that I am to give up Christ, my Lord. You have no right to try to control my heart or to ask such a thing of me. I shall never give up my belief in Jesus ! " This brave confession MR, TSUI, PREACHER AT TUNG-cHiA-cHu ANG. cnraged the Boxers. ihey SOME DEVOTED PREACHERS 165 dragged the young preacher outside the village where his young wife and child were sheltered. He was leaving them to all the cruelties of the Boxer hordes, but God kept him calm. "Are you a preacher now ? " they asked him, at the same time cutting off his ear. " Yes, now and until death," he answered ; and the native record says he " kept calm and serene, with a triumphant smile upon his face to the very end," when they furiously fell upon him and pierced hrm with many swords. The young wife fell into the hands of the Boxers, but was pre- served from harm in a wonderful way. News of her danger and her husband's martyrdom reached Tientsin, and after repeated messages from Mr. Bryson to the magistrates of the district, she was passed on her perilous way, guarded by an escort of soldiers, and at last sheltered in the women's apartments of a wealthy Chinese gentleman. He sent a message up to my husband asking that a Christian escort be sent down to take Mr. Chin's young widow to Tientsin. (Her child had died during the time of anxiety). One day she appeared in Mr. Bryson's study, having reached in safety the end of her perilous journey, surely in answer to her dying husband's prayers. Another of our students who had Imished his theological course shortly before the Boxer rising was named Chou Feng-en. During the month of June, 1900, he left Tientsin, bound for his home in Hsiao-chang. With him travelled the mission courier of that district,, who was his uncle. Soon after leaving Tientsin young Mr. Chou was successful in ob- taining a passage on board a " silver " boat returning to Heng-shui, a large town not far from Hsiao-chang. The courier said he thought the mails would be safer on the river than if he carried them by land,, so he handed the mail bag over to his nephew. i66 CROSS AND CROWN That was the last he ever saw of him, but some details of his death were gleaned from a passenger on the same boat. When the boat was approaching Tu-liu, a busy- town on the Grand Canal and a great headquarters of the Boxers, a company of them came on to the boat and inquired if there were any Christians on board. The captain declared there were none, but this did not satisfy the persecutors. They seized and bound every one of the passengers and crew, and began to flourish their swords in their faces, watchful for any sign of fear, or any indica- tion of the mark of the cross on their foreheads ! At this crisis one of the pas- sengers, fearing for his life, betrayed Chou, pointing him out as a Christian to the Boxers. The Boxers immediately searched the young man's bundle, and finding in it several Christian books, together with the foreign mail bag, dragged him on shore for execution. The martyrdom took place just in front of a temple, where many other Christians suffered. The young preacher met his death bravely and unflinchingly, placing his trust in the Lord. A SAILOR BOY ON THE GRAND CANAL. One of the first of the London Missionary preachers who suffered for his faith during the Boxer rising was a young man named Chao. SOME DEVOTED PREACHERS 167 He had been placed in charge of the village church of Kung-ts'un, about forty miles from Peking, in a district under the care of Mr. Grant. When the Boxers were invading the district in force, many of the Christians and some who were not believers, but had been attracted to Mr. Chao, urged him to seek safety in flight, while there was yet time. " No," he replied bravely, " I cannot leave this church. I have been placed here in charge of the Lord's work, and it is my duty to remain. I cannot feel it right to leave. If God wills, He is able to preserve my life even here ; if not, then I am ready to die at my post ! " The type of true Christian manhood has not changed much, through all the changes of the passing years, since the young Hebrews in Baby- lon in almost the same words fearlessly declared their faith in God in the face of threatening death. The Boxers crossed the river, not far from Kung-ts'un, and met Mr. Liu, one of the members of the church there. They recognized him as a Christian and attacked and wounded him with swords, after- wards binding him securely to a tree near the river bank. They then proceeded to the L.M.S. Chapel and seizing Mr. Chao, they bound him, fastening his thumbs and great toes together. They then carried him, suspended from a pole, to a tree near to that to which Mr. Liu had been fastened. Falling upon Mr. Liu they massacred him with frightful cruelty, and then put Mr. Chao to death in the same terrible fashion, throwing their mutilated remains into the river. The band returned to the Mission Chapel, looted the furniture and smashed the inscription board, and then departed. Speaking of the martyrdom of this preacher to the Rev. Howard- Smith of Peking, one of the Christians said, " I begged Mr. Chao to come away with me, but he resolutely refused, saying it was his duty i68 CROSS AND CROWN to remain ; for myself, I felt unworthy of martyrdom and am only a weak disciple, so I determined to attempt to escape." Surely we need not fear for the future of the Christian Church in China, when God calls out from the people themselves men like these young preachers, who count not their own lives dear to them, but are willing to lay them down in His blessed service. CHAPTER XII IN PERILS OFT— THE STORY OF A CHINESE EVANGELIST CHAPTER XII IN PERILS OFT— THE STORY OF A CHINESE EVANGELIST MR. CHANG JUNG-MAO had been a Christian from his earUest years, his father having been one of the first believers in the district of Chi Chou more than thirtj^ yeai'S ago. Jmig-mao was baptized as a child, and as he grew older joined the Theological School in Tientsin, and afterwards was led to volunteer to assist Dr. Mackenzie in the dispensary work of the Tientsin Hospital. The doctor wrote that he felt Jung-Mao's coming to him was a distinct answer to prayer, for he had long been praying for a dispenser, especially for one sent of God who should work for him. " Since joining us," continued Dr. Mackenzie, " he has thrown new life into the evangelistic work among the in-patients. Though his work is that of a dispenser he devotes his spare time to Christian work. It is telling grandly and God is blessing him in his own soul. I thank God there is an aroma of prayer about the place." Jung-mao often used very apt illustrations when speaking of Gospel truths. One day a class was discussing the text, " Blessed are ye that hunger now," and I asked how it was that so few hungered after spiritual things. " Why," replied Jung-mao, " it is for this reason, I think. When a man is sick he will not feel hungry at the sight of the best of dinners. His disease must be cured before he can feel hungry. And so it is with spiritual things ; the disease of sin 172 CROSS AND CROWN must be grappled with before we can begin to feel hungry for heavenly things." On another occasion when reading how Jesus, being troubled by the crowds which pressed around him, sought refuge in a fishing boat where the fishermen were just washing their nets, Jung-mao said, " We want to imitate Peter in this. He and his fellow-disciples had toiled all night and caught nothing, and here they were found on the morning washing their nets ! We, who are fishers of men, need to attend to this ; we should be washing our nets oftener. Are we not succeeding in our work as we should like? Perhaps our communion with the Saviour is broken. Perhaps we are not constantly feeding upon God's word. Then are our nets foul, and we had better give up fishing until we have washed our nets." After the death of his father, Jimg-mao returned to his home, MR. CHANG JUNG MAO. aud rcudercd most IN PERILS -OFT— THE STORY OF A CHINESE EVANGELIST 173 valuable services in many ways to the country missions. He is an excellent preacher, has a good knowledge of medicine, and was elected to the pastorate six years ago, though he declined to act. His losses during the troubles amounted to over £600. For the services rendered by him in the settlement of the indemnity to the converts and the mission, the Emperor bestowed upon him official rank. Though he was called upon to endure terrible suffering and months of great anxiety, Chang Jung-mao's name happily does not appear in the list of martyrs. The following account of the dangers he passed through, and his hairbreadth escapes, was written by himself and given to his pastor, the Rev. W. Hopkyn Rees : — I was preacher and assistant to Pastor Rees. For years the Churches had prospered greatly, and grown strong. Suddenly, in the spring of 1899, some men who styled themselves " The Allied Fists," opposed me and others at a fair, two miles from our central station at Hsiao Chang. These men were very violent. Rather than cause needless commotion, we quietly retired. But, slowly yet surely, the agitation grew, and persecution became more general in all the six counties of the Chi Chou prefecture. In the autumn, there were drill camps everywhere, and over four hundred of our converts were despoiled of their goods. No lives were lost. Pastors Rees and Meech appealed to the Viceroy, and soldiers were sent to guard the mission premises, to quell the disorder, and to protect the Christians at the outstations. Full compensation was paid to the converts for their losses, by arrangement between Pastor Rees and the local officials. For some time there was peace and quietness. But, suddenly, .and without any warning, the movement assumed a far more threaten- 174 CROSS AND CROWN ing phase in the spring of 1900, and developed formidable forces against the Church. In the middle of June, two French priests were massacred at a city twenty miles away. This brought matters to a head, and forthwith the Hsiao Chang missionaries, Messrs. Meech, McFarlane, and Bridge, with their families, twelve in all, escaped into the adjoining province of Shantung. Mr. Rees and his family had /■ / . ^t #-,"•.-,*. ■%- "^'^ '■^ *^^, <■ *^> -r """"^ "* A PEKING CART. already left for England in April. The refugees proceeded to the capital of Shantung and then worked their way along to Chefoo and Japan. The day that they left Hsiao Chang, my family, having heard of the murder of the French priests, sent a cart, with animals, to take IN PERILS OFT -THE STORY OF A CHINESE EVANGELIST 175 me home. I thanked God for this providential arrangement, as I was able thus to escort the missionaries to a place of safety in Shantung. I had a son, twelve years of age, who was hiding six miles away, and that very day I saw the flames as the houses of the converts in that village were being burned. I felt anxious for the converts and TWO PREACHERS IN THE CHI CHOU DISTRICT. formy son, as there were hundreds of Boxers all round, in every village and town. Just as the carts with the missionaries were starting, my son arrived. This was another proof of God's guiding hand. We all moved out together, three carts in all, with twenty armed Christians as escort, on foot, and we reached Shantung safely, without seeing any Boxers. 176 CROSS AND CROWN or being molested in any way. From that district the Viceroy Yuan Shih-kai had provided troops as escort, so I took my cart and accompanied my dear fellow- worker, Pao Feng-ko. After dodging Boxers for three days, we reached Pao's home. The villages here, though in Shantung, had Boxer drills regularly, and I deemed it inexpedient to compromise my colleague by staying on, so I retraced my steps, taking my son with me, who had malaria at the time. The first day out, we met an enormous crowd of Boxers, armed and mounted. They asked me where I was going. I replied boldly, " I am taking my boy home for his vacation." Next day, Boxers were still more numerous ; but I put on a bold face and drove on. On the fifth day, I reached a branch station of our own Chi Chou Mission, in the village of " The Great Moon." Here ""' the converts had armed themselves to resist an attack, and they welcomed us loyally. I preached to them that night, and we exhorted and comforted each other ; we prayed earnestly and long. They were determined to sacrifice life rather than deny the Lord. One of them, later on, died a glorious death. Next day again, we met more Boxers. These believed that all converts had the sign of the cross on their brows, so we threw off our hats so as to show our uncovered foreheads. They asked us, " Where are you bound for ? " I said, " I am a teacher and my boy is a scholar, and we are going home for the holidays." It was hohday time for all schools then. Towards midday we were only five miles from our head centre, v' Hsiao Chang. We reached a place where we had a chapel, but it had been burned, and the converts had fled. We then moved on to another chapel, but there again the chapel and homes were destroyed, and at the back of the burned chapel I saw the bloodstained garments of four massacred converts. IN PERILS OFT— THE STORY OF A CHINESE EVANGELIST 177 Still onwards we travelled with hearts of lead, and at three o'clock we got within a mile of Chi Chou city. Here we rested in a field, and I felt ill and exhausted. An old woman was there, and I asked her to sell me a melon. " I have none left," she answered, " as the Boxers have just passed this way, and stolen all I had." She added that three Christians had been killed in a village close by. Having found out that the Boxers had gone into the city, I turned my face towards the north, to avoid it. That night, about midnight, I got near my own village, abandoned the cart and mules, put my boy to sleep in an open field, and went alone to seek my home, having travelled that day seventy miles, with- out food for man or beast. I heard the noise of guns and the clatter of the watchman's gongs, so dared not enter my native village. My heart was well nigh bursting with sorrow. What had befallen my wife and children ? My home had been destroyed twice within the year. Boxers were seeking me ever^-w'here, but I discovered from a friendly neighbour that my wife was hiding a mile away. I never saw my cart and mules again, but that was tri\aal, since life was spared. Next night I traced my wife to the house of an uncle. They were much alarmed when I appeared with m}^ son. Here I learned that a reward was being offered by the officials for my capture. Owing to this, and the threat of destruction against all who dared to give me shelter, my friends and I were in a state of much anxiety. Two days later. Boxers sought me in this village, and searched the houses of all whom they suspected of being friendly to me and mine. The village was surrounded, but I was not discovered, as I was hiding between the walls of the two small outhouses, six feet high and three feet wide. Before dayhght, I took my eldest son and we moved on, as it was unsafe to remain in that village. A heathen in a neighbour- ing village concealed us, but we dare not cough or speak, and the M 17S CROSS AND CROWN IN A CHINESE CROWD. heat was intolerable ; still my faith and trust in God never wavered. This night they nearly captured us, so we had to move on again. I asked God : " If Thou dost need me for future service, then point the road now." Then I was told that the house which had given us shelter the night before was in flames, though a heathen's. And thus, by the space of only a few hours, our lives had been preserved again. So we started, my son and I, pushing a wheelbarrow that was lent to us. I read on a wall the proclamation offering a reward for my capture. I pushed on to an adjoining county, and there again saw the same proclamation. A Taoist priest had been discovered here with foreign medicines in his possession, which he had got from me some days before the outbreak. They cut off his hands, believing the silly rumour that he had been bribed bj/ me to poison the wells. At this time, I began to grow discouraged. Enemies were on all IN PERILS OFT— THE STORY OF A CHINESE EVANGELIST 179 sides of us. When would all this end, and how ? I had strength to say, " Thy will be done, and I pray for no other will, only let me glorify Thee, by hfe or death." Peace returned to my soul, and I no longer heeded the things on earth, desiring only the things eternal and a sight of my Lord. I told my lad we were in a precarious state, and asked how did he feel. The answer was swift and comforting : " I, too, am ready to die for Jesus, and feel true peace in my soul," he replied. I had known a man in this district who was indebted to me for heahng, so I appealed to him. He put up a small mud wall, running parallel with his compound wall, with a small hole to pass food through, and there we were hidden. Food was passed through this hole to us, but the place was cramped. It was the hottest season of the year, and it rained heavily most of the time. We stayed here twenty days, never having moved out of that den, which had been built after my son and I had gone inside. Words fail to describe the horror and sufferings of those days. On the morning of the twenty-first day Boxers entered the com- pound. My friend invited them to search everywhere, but they did not find us. We never prayed more earnestly than then, with the assassins only a few feet away from us. Here I learned that the house in which my wife had taken refuge had been burned and looted, and that she had fled to a pond where high rushes grew, and there my youngest child died of starvation. My second son had been taken care of by a heathen, who hid him in the brick bed which he and his wife constantly used. He was thus preserved for two months, and when the hour of his release came he was a veritable negro ! My mother-in-law, uncles, cousins and sisters-in-law, had all been looted or heavily fined. My kind benefactor got alarmed after the visit of the Boxers. So i8o CROSS AND CROWN my son and I tramped on once more, witli fear and trembling, towards the west. We dared not keep to the main roads, so crossed fields with the high kao-liang growing, sometimes in deep mud. Our feet got blistered, we were often faint with hunger, and my dear lad was at last unable to walk any more. In a corn field we prayed for help and succour. Next morning I espied two carts travelling together towards the west. I was now about thirty-four miles from home. I implored one carter to take my lad into his cart, but he firmly declined. Strange to say, the other carter offered to take tis both, and I knew that once again our prayers had been answered. He turned out to be an old acquaintance who had been treated medicinally by me. After some hours of rapid travelling we reached a town and entered an inn. Soon, an old man and a lad, in the opposite tea-shop, stared at us, crossed the road, and behold ! they, too, were Christians of another mission escaping from the Boxers. We moved on to a city near the western hills, not far from the- Shan-si borders. Here we sought employment, but owing to the drought labourers were not in demand. We had, between the four of us, some four taels in money (say los.) We used this as capital,, and set up a business of our own, making and selling meat cakes. But as none of us had been accustomed to this trade, our wares did. not prove palatable, so our business partnership was dissolved, after some loss of capital. I then set up as a seller of garlic and vinegar,, and made enough to about half feed my son and myself. Then I got a post for my son, selling bread for a baker. I added a little to our capital by grooming and feeding the animals of the guests who were passing through the city. In the same inn there were native cavalry, and I made a smaU sum daily by taking their animals to the- well ; but we were not able to satisfy our hunger. IN PERILS OFT— THE STORY OF A CHINESE EVANGELIST i8i Later on my boy got a job as book-keeper for a pig seller, who treated the lad well. Here he had three meals a day, and got as fat as the pigs they prepared for slaughter. Unfortunately, the old lady who kept the pigs was a devout Budd- hist, and worshipped at the shrine daily. On the sixth day she ordered my boy to represent her at the worship — for people often do these things by proxy in China. But he flatly refused, and it cost him his place. " Are you a Christian ? " she asked. " Yes, from my birth," he replied. He returned to me, crying bitterly. I upbraided him at first for being lazy, but when he explained the circum- stances, I felt proud of him, and thanked God that I had such a noble son. Then he began selling bread again, but being unaccustomed to any kind of business, people stole his bread or cheated him. Then I sent him to pick up straw or firewood in the fields, to sell. I had now to sell some of my clothing, as our money was gone. We had managed to exist here for about a month, when one day scores of soldiers entered the city from the north, reporting that Peking had been captured by the Allies. During these weeks I laughed and A CHINESE GRANDPAPA. 1 82 CROSS AND CROWN smiled and joked during the day, and cried and prayed during the night. I beheved that the tide was now turning, so we decided to retrace our steps homeward. We took our cooking pans, dishes, cups and carrying poles, bought four catties of rice, and started. We picked up firewood as we moved on, and cooked our food in the fields. Then we had to sell some of our utensils to buy food. At last we took to begging, or picked wild dates along the roads. We got within eight miles of home, to a large town. Alas, it was market da)^ and I feared detection. But, at an inn, we bravely ordered food, and we paid for it by selhng the remainder of our stock of cooking utensils. I twisted a dirty cloth round my head, just as a bald man does, my pigtail being concealed therein, and putting on a happy face, walked through the crowd, and got through the east gate undiscovered. We had met here with the other two. In a small wood, we knelt and commended each other to the Lord who had so miraculously wrought for us, and thus we parted, my son and I towards what was once our happy home. We soon arrived at the house of an old friend, but he declined to take us in ; so at midnight we pursued our weary journey and rested at dawn. At dusk, we were off again, and about ten o'clock reached a friend's house. He very kindly took us in, offered to find my wife and children, and soon brought them. How we recounted the Lord's favours and our own perils and suffer- ing for hours together ! Our joy was bej^ond the power of words to express. It was now that I learned that my wife and children had been hiding in the rushes for six days without food, and that my youngest child had died. When the rainy season commenced, great indeed was their discomfort, but later a heathen succoured them, gave them dry clothes, fed them, and hid them for several weeks. IN PERILS OFT— THE STORY OF A CHINESE EVANGELIST 183 We wept joyful tears, and praised God with gladsome hearts. I borrowed money to leave with them, and started for Tientsin. Out- side this city, foreign soldiers stood on guard, and one of them aimed his rifle at my head, but the few words of broken English which I had picked up saved me, and I got safely into the settlement. CHAPTER XIII THE STORY OF AN IMPERIAL BANNERMAN CHAPTER XIII THE STORY OF AN IMPERIAL BANNERMAN MR. YU, who was a member of our London Mission Church in Peking, was a Manchu bamierman and received his monthly pay in casli and rice from tlie Government. He was expected to be on duty for short periods as a guard in the Imperial Palace grounds. A very large number of these retainers are thus attached to the military service of the Government. One morning, just as the reports of the Boxer rising had shaken Tientsin and stirred up all the restless spirits in the capital, Mr. Yii had been out to the Government office where the monthly salaries were paid, and having hidden the small lump of silver within the folds of his light loose Chinese robe, he was on his way to his home within the city. The Boxers professed that by means of their spiritualistic visions and enchantments they were able to discover the Christians. They declared that, if closely examined, the sign of the cross would be found on the forehead of every person who had accepted the Christian faith. Very frequently the Boxers had received private information pointing out the Christians in any particular district, so it was not wonderful that the mystic movements which were made above the brows of those accused of being " Jesus rehgion men " constantly resulted in a condemnation. Some of the poor hunted Christians, so lately freed 1 88 CROSS A AW CROWN from the strange superstitions of their land, were inclined to wonder if their enemies did not really possess some demon-given power to accomplish their ruin. Not -unfrequently the Christians wore their caps pulled down over their foreheads to hide if possible the mystic sign that public opinion said could be made visible there. Mr. Yii's heart felt perceptibly lighter as he drew near his home, for it was dangerous work visiting the public offices at such a time as the sunny June days of 1900. Suddenly, from behind the wall of a court which had partly hidden them, a band of Boxers sprang out and seized him. They knew him to be a bannerman and expected to find some silver upon his person. But they were not successful in their search. Mr. Yii felt that God had heard his prayer, that the money upon which his family were dependent might be hidden from them. This cheered his heart greatly, even though the cords with which he was bound cut sorely as his captors dragged him along to a Boxer altar. Suddenly he determined to appeal to the Boxers to save his life, useless as it seemed to do so. " I am an innocent law-abiding citizen," he exclaimed, " a subject of the Empress and in her service. Why should you try to take my life ? " Mr. Yii says he feels sure it was the Lord who gave him wisdom to speak to them and touched their cruel hearts to release him. It was a most unusual circumstance, but apparently the Boxers were impressed by his words, for they set him free. He immediately hastened home to his wife, who at that time was not a Christian and therefore comparatively safe. After consulting together as to what was the best course to take, Mr. and Mrs. Yii decided that it would be best for him to go and take up his duty as usual in the Imperial Palace grounds rather than flee for his life and probably be disco\'ered. THE STORY OF AN IMPERIAL BANNERMAN 189 That very day he went on duty and remained at his post till the THE EMPEROR OF CHINA. Allies entered the city, though as a rule these Manchu guards serve for ipo • CROSS AND CROWN a few days and then go home for a few days. A small official was very friendly to Mr. Yii and they constantly kept in each other's company, till one night when Yii was sleeping this man stole some money he had upon his person. The next day Yii accused the official of the theft. This aroused the anger of the dishonest man and he retorted, " You think your secret has been well kept, but I have discovered it and I know you are a Christian." Mr. Yii considered for a moment. He knew that his life was in danger if the man informed upon him. He decided the best plan was to carry the matter through with a high hand and not show any fear. So he replied, " Whether I am a Christian or not has nothing to do with this matter ; to-morrow we had better go together to Duke Lan and I will report to him my loss of the money." The small official was quite taken aback by Mr. Yii's remark and ceased to molest him further. Some time after the Empress Dowager became greatly distressed because so many of the members of her Imperial Guard were being killed by stray shots. She came to the conclusion that there must be some Christians hiding among them and attacking them in some invis- ible way. It was decided therefore that a very searching investigation must be made with a view to discovering the supposed Christian spies. The aid of some specially clever Boxers was called in, men who were thought to be so possessed by the spirits that by their mystic art they could reveal the presence of the hated members of the Jesus sect, however disguised they might be. First of all Duke Lan, at the head of 400 soldiers, took possession of the park to prevent the escape of any suspected men ; and then a systematic search was made for any Christians who might be in hiding there. Some of these specially selected Boxers were very clever IN THE NATIVE CITY, PEKING. 191 THE STORY OF AN IMPERIAL BANNERMAN 193 athletes and leapt on to the roofs of houses and over walls, intent upon discovering if any persons were hidden in remote corners or among the long grass. But no Christians could be found. Mr. Yii, in company with the rest of the guard, had been carefully examined by the Boxers, but the cross which it was declared could always be discovered by their preternaturally keen eyes on the fore- head of every Christian had not been seen in his case. Meantime Duke Lan was beginning to feel much troubled. He knew that he was expected to find a Christian among the soldiers, so next day a poor trembling stableman was seized. He cried and protested that he was no Christian but a good heathen. Duke Lan immediately placed him in charge of an official till he could be put through the ordinary tests at a Boxer altar. This mandarin was over-zealous and turned the man off to be tried at once. One test used on these occasions was the burning of incense. If the smoke ascended towards the idol the man was a true worshipper of the gods ; if it came towards the prisoner he was declared to be an enemy of the idols. In this case the stableman was pronounced guiltless of the crime of being a Christian and he was set free. When Duke Lan discovered that the intended victim who was to appease the rage of the Empress had escaped, he was very angry with the official to whose charge he had been entrusted, and threatened if the stableman could not be produced immediately, he must pay the penalty with his own life. Just as the whole regiment was in a state of consternation and alarm, the poor stableman made his appearance with the report that he had been acquitted. But this did not suit Duke Lan at all. After all that had passed he was determined not to let the proposed victim slip through his fingers. At once the stableman was dispatched under a strong guard to several other Boxer altars, and in each place they met the Duke's N 194 CROSS AND CROWN wishes and pronounced the man a Christian. He was accordingly at once beheaded. With much satisfaction Duke Lan reported to his Imperial mis- tress that the Christian whose presence had caused so much mischief ^ "^"^f^i^'^S^-^ ■■■■;■■' ^j^glgl «r-\'v -'"■.'■„.: -1 ^«^^'/- ■ J4^S ^^, y;\ K,.,,i^, ^- A PEKING STREET. among her soldiers had been caught and slain, and the Empress Dowager's anxiety was at once relieved. When the Allies arrived in Peking Mr. Yii succeeded in leaving the palace grounds and escaped to the London Mission. He is now a very earnest member of our East City church. His wife has also become a Christian and she and the children have been baptized. CHAPTER XIV AFTER THE STORM CHAPTER XIV AFTER THE STORM AFTER the allied forces had entered Peking and peace was to a great extent restored, many Christian people in England seemed to feel that mission work in China had received a blow from which it would never recover. They forgot that the blood of the martyrs is always the seed of the church. It has been so in past centuries ; it is so to-day in China. In Peking after the siege, the people soon found out that the missionaries were their best friends. Miss Georgina Smith (now Mrs. Biggin) was privileged to do a great work in protecting a whole district of the city from molestation by the soldiers. She procured work for the Christians and arranged for the shops in this district to supply them with food in exchange for tickets of a monetary value. Officers and civilians alike were amazed at the wisdom with which this Christian lady organized the work. As a token of admiration and honour, eighty- four shops presented her with a " thousand name umbrella " (a gift sometimes offered to high Chinese officials), the names of the donors being written in gold, and many other groups of persons sent similar offerings. In Tientsin, though the two fine chapels of the London Mission had been utterly destroyed, the Provisional Government gave Mr. Bryson permission to take possession of the Temple of the Dragon King CROSS AND CROWN in order that the converts might have a place of worship, whilst their own chapels were being rebuilt. After it had been cleared of all traces of idolatry, services were held in this Temple, and the neighbours were amazed to hear the songs of Zion sounding out from the idol's shrine. The Chinese have often been represented as an ungrateful race, but those who know our native Christians think otherwise. After they had gathered together in their strange new chapel they decided that they must offer some expression of thankfulness to Mr. Edmund Cousins for his extreme kindness to them in time of greatest need (see chapter viii). Their missionary, knowing the deep poverty of some of the refugees, inclined to restrain them a little, and suggested the relief of the poor with the money. " Pastor," said Deacon Wang (who, like a Barnabas, is well known as a helper of the poor), " the poor we have always with us, but this is a special occasion. We must show our grati- tude to this friend in need ; this is our ala- baster box of ointment ! " The presentation chosen was a beauti- fully carved tablet to be placed above the door of Mr. Cousins' house, bearing the Chinese inscription, " The Protector of the Chris- tians," and another tablet and many scrolls "PROTECTOR OF THE for the luterior of thc house. All through the (Tablet presented to Mr. Ed- city Streets the processiou of Christians '"""'^'^T^n^^S "'"''"' marched, carrying their gifts in grand sedan AFTER THE STORM 199 chairs and in their joy singing familiar hymns, Uke " Forward be our watchword," and "He leadeth me," songs whicli had been sung by many of their comrades when death stared them in the face. When they arrived at the house Mr. Cousins received his visitors in Chinese style, a large tent having been erected in the courtyard for their accommodation. GATE OF MISSION PREMISES AT TUNG-CHI A-CHUANG. Speeches were then made by the leaders among the Christians. Mr. Liu Feng-kang, who is an eloquent speaker, said that Mr. Cousins had cared for them when even their own flesh and blood had turned them from their doors. He had done more for them than father and mother could have done. They would never forget his kindness to them, and he believed that when they stood before the throne above — even then — it would be remembered to the praise of Mr. Cousins and 200 CROSS AND CROWN the glory of the Redeemer, for whose sake the compassionate deed had been done. In the Tung-chia-chuang district, ten miles from Tientsin, the head- man, who was the chief of thirty villages, was cruelly killed with swords, and much property was destroyed by the enemies of the Christians. Since then they have built themselves a chapel, which they never had before, a schoolroom, a preacher's house and room for a missionary to stay in, and all this without any cost to the Society. A very interesting work is going on there, under the care of Mr. Tsui, the native preacher, a good earnest man, who is supported by the young people of Dr. Pearson's church in Broughton Park, Manchester. As I walked round the ruins of a large part of their home with the widow of the head-man, one day, I noticed that nothing had yet been done in the way of repairs. In reply to my remark she answered, " We could not afford to build the chapel and re-erect the wing of this house also." So they had chosen first to build a house for the worship of God, letting their own house wait. In Ts'ang-chow, on their return to the ruins of the Mission premises, towards the close of 1901, the Rev. D. S. Murray and Dr. Arthur Peill received a warm welcome from the people, and specially from the mandarins who had assisted them in their escape, General Mei and His Excellency Liu Chih-ting. These officials expressed great surprise and satisfaction at the marvellous escape of the missionaries. General Mei said, " If it had not been for your Jesus you never could have escaped. Do not be troubled, you are bound to prosper. Your Jesus is with you ! " The missionaries also discovered that it had been at the risk of his own life that Mr. Liu had saved them. After their departure on that terrible day when he lent them his own five mules to draw their carts, AFTER THE STORM 201 he was hauled before a Boxer leader who was seated on an improvised throne like an emperor. Mr. Liu, a high official, was forced to kneel before this man and explain why he had assisted the " foreign devils " to escape. Mr. Liu asked anyone present to tell of any harm the HIS EXCELLENCY HU CHIH-TING, WHO SAVED OUR TSANG-CHOW MISSIONARIES. foreigners had ever done them. " All knew their good deeds about the city," he said, " and all respected them." After a long time, and the payment of a heavy fine, Mr. Liu was set free. Eventually he had to flee by night and would have been killed on the road by Boxers but for the bravery of his followers, 202 CROSS AND CROWN who made such a determined resistance that he got away to the south and remained there till after the great battle fought under the leader- ship of General Mei, when 3,000 of the Boxers were killed and put to flight and the Boxer hordes were prevented from invading Shantung. In recognition of his services in enabling the missionaries to escape, King Edward has presented General Mei with a fine gold watch bear- ing an inscription. Pnoii} l?y\ [A. D. PEILL. REV. D. S. MURRAY ON TOUR AMONG THE VILLAGES IN THE TSANG-CHOW DISTRICT. All the officials of this city and the district are now most friendly to the Tsang Chow Mission, and when, early in 1903, the newly-built hospital was opened, the officials from all the country side attended in great numbers, and thousands of friendly spectators watched the proceedings. Writing of the attitude of the Christians after the Boxer rising, AFTER THE STORM 203 Mr. Murray says, "It is a remarkable fact that notwithstanding the terrible cruelty of the Boxers and the reaction after the rising was quelled, when the Christians had the power to revenge themselves upon the murderers of their dear ones, we have not to record a single act of violence committed by any of them. General Mei bore strong testimony to this fact, and stated that the fruits of this forbearance would be reaped by us in years to come in the good-will of the people at large." Dr. Peill told me that one old man, who had suffered much for his faith, though he had not much head-knowledge, said, " He did not know as much as he would like about Christianity ; but as he under- stoo'd it, he thought it was a religion of long-suffering under oppres- sion and wrong. Jesus endured suffering worse than any we can have to bear, and He taught His disciples to follow in His steps." Since 1900 quite a number of the heathen relatives of the martyrs have joined the church as inquirers. New churches are springing up in all directions and earnest appeals for teachers are constantly coming in, for many of the preachers and leaders, both among men and women, laid down their lives for the faith during the outbreak. Many hundreds are waiting for baptism and it is impossible to find teachers to instruct them. News of a similar nature comes in from the Chi-Chou district, where there are Christians in nearly three hundred villages and more than a thousand waiting for baptism. Nothing touched me more, among many pathetic remembrances, than the recent visit I paid with Mr. Murray and my son to the village of Yang-chia-chai, and my meeting with the old patriarch, Wang, the last remaining of a family of eight, all the rest having won the martyr's crown. All of them were earnest Bible students, men and women to whom Jesus was a " living bright reality." Formerly, 204 CROSS AND CROWN when the missionary visited their station it was almost impossible to get them to retire for rest at night. " We cannot have you here often ; we have been saving up things to ask you about the doctrine for so long," they would say. They were captured while attempting to make their escape to the DEACON WANG, OF YANG-CHI A-CHAI. sea. They witnessed a good confession and were cruelly put to death, among them old Mr. Wang's aged mother, eighty years of age. An ex-Boxer said to the old Christian recently, sneeringly, " What evidence have you that your faith in Christ is of any avail ? Why, Jesus allowed all your family to be killed by the Boxers ! " " Evidence, did you say ? " inquired the fine old man calmly. AFTER THE STORM 205 " Why ! the evidence is just here, that although you destroyed my own flesh and blood, I have not sought to be revenged upon you. Surely you need no other evidence that this is a heavenly doctrine ? " One of the village head men spoke in the same way to Mr. Murray. He said, " I know your doctrine must be divine, or else how is it, after the terrible doings of 1900, that you foreigners are still here preaching ? It is not so much the power of God in keeping the church alive in China I am thinking of, but the love that still desires to save men, after all you have gone through ! For my part I never saw a love like this before." The Chinese translation of — "Here we suffer grief and pain, Here we meet to part again, In Heaven we part no more," — never sounded so sweet as when sung by- lips to which it meant so much, just before we left. I was greatly touched with Mr. Murray's tenderness over these sorely tried sheep of the fold, and the way in which he tried to show them the glory of dying for Jesus. He told me that when he first visited the place, after the troubles, the old man seemed quite broken- hearted. Laying his head upon the table, he wept sore ; the horror and shame of it all was so near. The thought that his revered mother and his noble sons should have been treated like the lowest criminals was terrible. Now by slow degrees the bereaved ones are coming to realize, what so many of the martyrs in their hour of trial were given grace to see, that there is no honour or glory so great as that of dying for the Master. As Mrs. Sun, a noble Yen-shan Christian, said to the young women, who were weeping and wailing before the fire was lit outside the house 2o6 CROSS AND CROWN in which they were imprisoned, " If we have true faith and die for Jesus, this is a great honour. We are all mortal, we are like the grass of the field. Since we all must die sometime, it is surely best to die for righteousness sake." Then she added, " I do not believe after this time of trial that once LA. G. BrYSON. DEACON WANG, {Staiiditig by tombstone of seven members of his family killed by Boxers.) in a hundred years there will be such an opportunity as this of dying for our Lord ! " So we said good-bye to Yang-chia-chai, the last station of the dis- trict we visited in what I have called the special " martyr-land " of North China. The last sight that met our eyes was old Deacon Wang, one of the AFTER THE STORM 207 crowd of Christians who had come to escort us a httle way on our journey. He was standing by the fine tombstone he has erected to the memory of the seven martyrs of his home circle. He and many hke him have given of their dearest possessions to the cause of Christianity and are left alone on earth. They have rebuilt the chapel in this village and the work is spreading on every side. But the appeal comes ever for more teachers. " Cannot you stay ?" we were asked over and over again, " and are not more teachers coming to us ? " Oh, that some who read this may hear the Saviour calling them to prepare for this service ! And may those who cannot come lay before the throne where martyr-palms are clustering their liberal gifts and their unceasing prayers for the Church of Christ in China. THE END. THE STORY OF OUR SHIPS. The London Missionary Society was founded in 1795. In the following year its first party of missionaries sailed for the South Seas in the Duff. After the loss of this historic ship communication between the South Sea Missions was kept up by means of various small vessels until the year 1838, when the Camden was purchased. In 1844 the boys and girls of our Sunday Schools collected money with which to purchase the first John Williams, so named in memory of the great missionary who had met his death on the island of Erro- manga in 1839. Since then the " Mission fleet " has been the special charge of the Sunday scholars, who have collected annually, since 1859, by means of the " New Year's Offering Collecting Cards," the amount necessary for its maintenance, a total sum of more than ;£240,ooo. The amount collected last year (January, 1904) was £8,573. The present John Williams, the fourth of that name, and the first steamship, was launched in March, 1894. A brief description of her work may be of interest. The L.M.S. has missionaries working on six different islands and groups of islands in the Pacific ; and some of these groups contain large and important islands with missionaries living on each of them. Altogether we have thirty-two missionaries at work in this part of the mission-field, with nearly 900 native preachers and teachers under their charge. These missionaries have all to be taken to and from their stations ; food and clothing and other necessaries of life have to be taken to them every year, together with building material for schools and chapels and houses ; Bibles and other books have to be sent out ; native teachers have to be moved from one island to another ; and as there is no regular service of ships between these islands, it is absolutely necessary that the Missionary Society should have a vessel of its own for this work. Thus there can be no question as to the value of the John Williams and the importance of maintaining her in good condition from year to year. The South Seas have witnessed some of the most glorious triumphs of the Gospel in the history of the world. Islands, which, half a century ago, were given over to cannibalism and idolatry, are to-day Christian lands. Whole, nations have been brought into God's Kingdom. And in this great work the " Children's Ship " has played her part for sixty years. 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