BV 3425 .L53 B76 1906 copy 1 ■t, >T, Ji .^^* s^ jjt tllf SfffDingtfa/ ^ ^«/, 'ft PRINCETON, N.J. •^/i ^^ BV 3425 .L53 B76 1906 c.l Brown, Arthur Judson, 1856- 1963. The Lien-Chou martyrdom * APR 141908 The LIEN-CHOU MARTYRDOM RUINS OF THE CnURCII AT LIEN-CHOU. Bunieil by the Mob, Oct. 28, 1905. The tower still stiuids. The Cross is still upheld at Lien-Chou Board of Foreign Missions of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America, 156 Fifth Avenue, New York City MR. PEAI.K ON TIIK WHARF AT SAN FRANCISCO EN ROUTE FOR CHINA. J By THE REV. ARTHUR J. BROWN, D.D. HE whole Christian world has been^ shocked by the terrible tragedy at Lien-chou, China. Lien-chou is a city of about 50,000 inhabitants in the northern part of the Province of Kwang-tung. It is about 250 miles from Canton, but as the only route is by a winding and at places rapid river, which is navigable only for small boats, the journey from Canton ordinarily occupies three weeks. There are innumerable villages in the neighborhood so that the population of this field which the Lien-chou missionaries were expected to work was about one million. The nearest foreigners were some Baptist missionaries three and a half days' journey westward and some English and German missionaries four days eastward. Northward the nearest missionaries were our Presbyterian missionaries at Chien-chou of the Hunan Mis- sion who were five days' journey away. Our work at Lien-chou was begun in 1889 by the Rev. Dr. Henry of Canton, who had previously visited it on his itinerat- ing tours. A chapel was built in 1897. The first missionaries regularly stationed there were Dr. and Mrs. Machle, Rev. and Mrs. Lingle (now in the Hunan Mission) and Miss Louise John- ston. Dr. Chesnut was added to the force in 1894. Rev. and Mrs. Rees F. Edwards joined the station in 1898, but were in this country on furlough during the trouble at Lien-chou. At the time of the outbreak the work included the care of the church, two hospitals, one for men and one for women, and boarding schools for boys and girls, the latter at Sam Kong, ten miles distant. Last year Dr. Chesnut treated at the Womans' Hospital 5,479 patients. Dr. Machle at the Men's Hospital treated 7,577 patients. Converts multiplied until in the city of Lien-chou there was a church with an adult membership of over 300; and the congregation had just completed a handsome new church edifice seating 700 people. This church was dedicated March 1, 1905, and the dedication services were attended by throngs which crowded the cliurch to its utmost capacity. There were then four other organized churches in otlier towns in the station district, while there were Httle groups of behevers in a con- siderable number of outlying villages. The Boys' Boarding School was filled with pupils and the demands for admission were so great that some boys had to be turned away for want of room. The Girls' School was also prosperous and there were many day-schools in various parts of the field. The total value of the property destroyed at Lien-chou in- cluding personal efifects of the missionaries is $26,400. When the first intimations of the trouble were received we could scarcely credit them. Our letters from the missionaries up to that time had not indicated any disposition on the part of the people to molest them. Indeed so secure did the missionaries feel that the two single women of the station, Dr. Eleanor Chesnut and Miss Elda G. Patterson remained at Lien-chou alone while their associates went to the Mission Meeting at Canton two hundred and fifty miles distant. The Board did not know this at the time, but Miss Patterson has since reported that they were not molested and that nothing occurred to excite alarm. In these circumstances we were startled beyond expression Novem- ber 2d by the Associated Press despatches of November 1st and by the following cable to the Board the next day : "Lien-chou Station has been attacked and Mrs. Machle, Amy Machle, Mr. Peale, Mrs. Peale, Miss Chesnut killed. Dr. Machle, Miss Patterson safe. Buildings destroyed." We at once notified the relatives and special friends, and also the State Department at Washington. In reply to our mes- sage of sympathy and inquiry, we received the following mes- sage, November 3rd : "Unrest. Heathen festival encroached Mission premises. Fled cave. Discovered. Killed. Bodies recovered." The Revs. Andrew Beattie, D.D., and Wm. D. Noyes and Paul J. Todd of our Canton Station, with an escort of sixty Chinese soldiers, promptly started for Lien-chou. The fifth day they met the two survivors, Dr. Machle and Miss Patterson, on their way down the river. It was considered advisable to return with them to Canton. By direction of the State Department, the American Consul- General at Canton, Mr. Lay, left for Lien-chou Nov. 10th to make a thorough investigation. He was accompanied by Lieut. - Com. Evans of the U. S. S. Oregon, Lieut. Dismukes of the Monadnock, and Dr. Machle and the Revs. A. A. Fulton, D.D., Andrew Beattie, Ph.D., and Wm. D. Noyes, members of our Canton station. The Chinese Government was represented by high ofificials. Before starting, this Commission took the testi- mony available in Canton, and on its arrival at Licn-chou, Nov. 19th, began a thorough investigation which occupied many days and involved the examination of scores of witnesses. The fol- lowing narrative has been compiled from the report of this Com- mission with a few additions from the letters of the missionaries: "Dr. Machlc arrived at Lien-chou with liis family on the evening of the 27th of October, 1905, after an absence of about two months on account of the annual meeting of the Mission in Canton. He found the Chinese cele- brating Ta Tsiu, or All Souls' Day, with the usual idolatrous ceremonies. The next morning at]Jabout 9 o'clock he went to the Men's Hospital. As he was passing the joss temple adjacent to the Woman's Hospital, he observed that the Chinese had erected a mat shed on the Mission property for the musicians connected witli the ceremony. At the celebraticm tlie preceding year, the same thing had been done. Dr. Machle had then remonstrated and the village elders had promised not to trespass again, but one Chinese had exclaimed : 'We are Roman Catholics, and we are going to kill you all and burn your property.' In spite of this former promise, the offense was now repeated and this same man was engaged in the affair. "It is a native custom when desiring a conference with any one, to send him word that you have taken some object belonging to him. In harmony with this custom. Dr. Machle picked up three of six small joss cannon, that some small boys were firing, and carried them to the Men's Hospital, perhaps 80 or 90 yards, and placed them in the dispensary near the entrance. His object was to cause the head men connected with the celebration to come to him in order that he might reason with them relative to the erection of the mat shed on mission property. As he had anticipated, three or four of the village elders soon came, accompanied by eight or nine younger men from the temple. "When Dr. Machle had temperately reminded them of their former pledge and renewed his protest, one of the old men said: 'This is our last day. In the afternoon we have our great feast, and then we will take the shed down and not put it up again hereafter on mission property.' Dr. Machle replied: 'If that is the case, and you promise not to repeat the offense, this affair is settled forever.' Dr. Machle then directed his medical assistant to hand back the cannon. All seemed satisfied and turned to go away. Dr. Machle was about to enter the hospital, when a large crowd came down the road from an opposite direction from the temple armed with a sw-ord, a revolver and sticks. The foremost man said : 'You have stolen our cannon !' Dr. Machle replied : 'Friend, I do not do such things,' and related to them the facts given above in regard to the return of the cannon. The old man carrying the cannon, hearing the noise, came back and said: 'Everything is settled, and there is nothing the matter; go away; see, here are the cannon which have been given back.' The old man told Dr. Machle to go to the hospital, as the affair was settled. This the Doctor was about to do when he observed Dr. Eleanor Chesnut talking to the men. Dr. Machle approached her and urged her to return to the Woman's Hospital, when a man rushed from the crowd and aimed a revolver at Dr. Machle's heart. The old man took Dr. Machle by the arm and led him to the hospital gate. As he passed through, the Doctor was assaulted and after he had entered, the hospital was bombarded with missiles. "Dr. Chesnut, seeing the turn of affairs, appeared determined to report the matter to the authorities, for, instead of entering the hospital as Dr. Machle had advised, she hurried down the alley between the two hospitals, pursued by some of the mob, now rapidly increasing in numbers. She was unable to affect her purpose of reaching the yamen. but took refuge on the guard boat on the river. She might have escaped in safety, but, seeing the deady peril of her associates, with characteristic heroism and devotion, she deliberately turned back to share their danger and in accordance with her request the captain of the guard boat conducted her to Dr. Machle's resi- dence on the Mission hill. Dr. Chesnut's pursuers evidently suspected that she was bent on reporting the affair to the local authorities and this still further irritated them. "On arriving at his house, Dr. Machle at once sent his card to the magistrate's yamen, requesting protection. This card was sent 15 or 20 minutes after the conversation with the old man at the hospital gate. In the meantime, the crowd was gathering in front of the hospital. It appears that when the men returned to the hospital after chasing Dr. Chesnut, they would not accept the explanation of the Chinese elders that the cannon had been returned and the trouble all settled. That the cannon actually had been returned there can be no doubt. On this point, Mr. Koo Kim, a Chinese from Honolulu, who was with Dr. Machle at the time of the return of the cannon, and his entrance to the hospital, corroborates the Doctor's testimony, as do several other witnesses, including Li Sung To, hospital assistant, who actually handed the cannon to one of the old men. The Commission also 'feels that the return of the cannon by Dr. Machle to the old men representing the worshippers at the celebration prior to any assault either on Dr. Machle or the hospital is a fact.' Dr. Machle states that the cannon were in his possession about ten minutes. "The young men, however, showed by their actions that they were determined to create a disturbance and insisted on entering the hospitals. Stones were thrown and windows and doors smashed and presently they gained an entrance to the Men's Hospital. Tin pans had been beaten, and when a tin pan is beaten scores of the very worst characters of the place are sure to come together in the hope of finding an opportunity for plunder. These constituted a large part of the crowd. While rushing through the hospital searching for the cannon or looting, they came across certain ana- tomical and pathological specimens preserved in earthenware jars, and stored upstairs. These specimens were brought out and placed on a tray. A pro- cession was formed led by a man beating a gong, and the specimens were paraded through the street, attracting a large number of people and increas- ing the mob before the hospital to several thousands. About the time the sipecimens were being withdrawn from the hospital, two civil and three mili- tary officials arrived on the scene, accompanied by about 30 unarmed sol- diers, many of them having very recently enlisted. The official informed the mob that the cannon had been returned and that the specimens were for the purposes of instruction, but the mob was thoroughly aroused and per- sisted in the belief that Dr. Machle had been engaged in malpractice. Some of them claimed to have lost children in the past and assumed these speci- mens to be the explanation of their disappearance. The officials tried by exhortation and pacific means, according to Chinese standards and custom, to disperse the people. They were unquestionably much concerned by the outbreak and did their best, short of exercising force, to disperse the mob, but, unarmed as they were, the officials and soldiers were too few in num- bers and inefficient in quality to afford the necessary protection to life and property. "On becoming convinced that it was impossible to thwart the mob in their intent to burn the hospitals, the five officials gathered with their sol- diers in front of Dr. Machle's house. The officials assured him of safety and said that the mob would not dare approach the residences. They offered Dr. Machle asylum at the yamen, to which Dr. Machle responded : T am in your hands.' At this time, the other missionaries, Mrs. Machle and daughter Amy, Dr. Chesnut, Miss Patterson and Mr. and Mrs. Peale, were all in Dr. Machle's house upstairs. The situation was deemed serious. Dr. Machle went into the house, as the officials supposed, to prepare to accom- pany them to the yamen. But, with the whole missionary party, he aban- doned the house by a back door, the officials being unaware of their departure, and fled toward Sam Kong, distant about ten miles. "Mr. Peale had a revolver and was at first disposed to take it, but after consultation with the other missionaries, he left it in the house, feeling unwilling to begin his missionary career by any act of violence against the people whom he had come to save. At this time, a native whom Dr. Machle had observed with the official party appeared offering to escort them to a boat which would take them across the river, whence they might reach the yamen. He had, however, no connection with the officials. A boatman started across from the other side when hailed by the missionaries, but PAVILLION AT LUNG TAU TSZ (Dragon Cave Monastery). Under this tree Dr. Chesnut treated her last patient and Mrs. Machle proclaimed the true God with her dying breath. returned, either because threatened or because he did not care to render assistance. Abandoning the idea of crossing, the fugitive missionaries took up their flight toward Sam Kong, and proceeded as far as a Buddhist temple, called Lung Tau, distant about one mile. A priest appeared at the door and invited them in, saying that they would be safe within. The party entered, but, as money was demanded, they suspected a trap and immedi- ately departed. They had gone but a few steps, .scarcely out of the temple, before the pursuing mob was heard near at hand. The party then re-entered the temple. In the rear of the temple is a large cave having many ramifica- tions, the only entrance being through the temple. In this cave, the ill-fated missionaries sought to conceal themseh^es. Dr. Machle remained behind to close the temple door and was the last to enter the cave. When he entered, he was unable in the darkness and confusion to find the others. He called for Mrs. Machle, but, receiving no answer and supposing that the others were all concealed, he rushed into one of the narrow passages. Being close pressed, he submerged himself in water in an obscure recess, and eluded detection until rescued by the officials and soldiers, some three or four hours later. Some of the mob had by this time gained entrance to the cave and were searching for the hiding places of the missionaries with torches and bunches of burning straw. Among the first to enter was a man who, though among the crowd, had come to try if possible to save the lives of some of the fugitives. Miss Patterson owed her escape entirely to the assistance of this man, a non-Christian native by the name of Lo Cheung Shing, who was the first to encounter her in a place where she would certainly have been discovered by the mob. This kind-hearted and humane Chinese took her to a place of concealment in a remote branch of the cave, where, standing in about two feet of water in a deep pit beneath an overhanging ledge, they escaped detection. As Dr. Beattie writes, 'The brave, unselfish conduct of this man was one bright and redeeming feature in this tragedy.' The other five missionaries were successively discovered and dragged from the cave and met their deaths probably in the following order: Mrs. Machlc, Dr. Chesnut, Dr. Machle's eleven-year-old daughter Amy, Mr. Peale and Mrs. Peale. Eye-witnesses relate that Mrs. Machle reasoned with the mob to the last, remaining perfectly calm and speaking to them of the Christ in whose name she had come, until a blow from behind ended her life. The last act of Dr. Chesnut, one of characteristic thought- fulness and unselfishness, was to tear off a portion of her skirt and bind up an ugly gash on the head of a Chinese boy who had been accidentally struck by a stone. Her last words were a plea for Mr. and Mrs. Peale. She told the mob to kill her if they desired to do so, but to spare the new missionaries who had just arrived and who could not possibly have offended them. "Meantime, the officials had stood for a time in front of the house, evidently under the impression that the missionaries were preparing to accompany them to the yamen. This is the explanation covering the sepa- ration of the missionaries from the possible protection by the oflScials. The man who told the missionaries he would guide them to a boat had no con- nection with the officials. The officials and soldiers went towards the hos- pitals at least as far as the Mary Whitmore Dwight Memorial Hall, where there is a gate which they closed, and endeavored to keep the people from approaching the residence on the hill, but the people found other approaches and soon Dr. Machle's house was discovered to be on fire. The officials rushed back intent on at least saving life, but were informed that the for- POINT ON LIEN-OIIOU KIVKU WIIEKE THE MARTYRS WERE THROWN. eigners had fled, together with a number of Chinese Christian converts, but in which direction they could not learn. It was decided that the sub-prefect and colonel should go in different directions. The sub-prefect, who went toward Ho Chun, was informed by natives whom he met that the foreigners had crossed the river. The colonel and major went toward Sam Kong. Their statements is that having gone a short distance they received reports that the missionaries had crossed the river. So the officers decided that the foreigners had escaped to the city and returned to their own yamens. On lo arriving at his yamen, the sub-prefect, not finding the foreigners, sent run- ners out in search. Shortly afterward, the colonel arrived, stating that the foreigners were not at his yamen. About this time word came that the missionaries were at the Lung Tau temple and that a crowd of several hundred were following them. "The ofificials at once proceeded to the temple, taking about thirty sol- diers with them, this time armed. But they arrived too late, for the mur- ders had already occurred. Learning that there were still two missionaries in the cave, the officials proceeded to disperse the mob in order that these two lives might be saved. In this they had the aid of Wong Shan Heung, a Roman Catholic, who the preceding year and with another agent of the A>IY MACULE, TEN YEARS OLD. Roman Catholic Church had given considerable assistance in quelling the demonstration over the objection to the erection of the mat shed. Dr. Machle and Miss Patterson were discovered and taken to the yamen dis- guised as Chinese soldiers. They were retained several days until safe con- duct could be afforded down the river, when they started before daylight for Canton, accompanied by the Major, Wong Chan Sin. They arrived safely, November 8th." In determining the causes of the tragedy, the official Com- mission finds that the act of Dr. Machle followed by "the most unfortunate discovery by the people of the anatomical and pathological specimens in the hospital, used for demonstrating the course of surgical and medical instruction," were the im- mediate occasion of the outbreak. But the Commission also specifies as a direct cause the desire of lawless characters to loot the Mission compound, and it emphasizes the following indirect causes which, together with loot, are evidently the real ones: "Anti-foreign feeling, which is omnipresent to a greater or less extent in all parts of China. The feehng was doubtless fostered prior to the massacre, by the American boycott. "The unruly condition of affairs in and about Lien-chou which has existed during tlie last two years, particularly noticeable in the resistance on the part of the people, good and bad, to the will of the Viceroy in his intention to institute a new form of lottery known as the Po Piu. This culminated last year about the second of June when a large mob partially demolished a lottery shop and made a signal demonstration before the yamen. Although two of the leaders were arrested, the people were not in general punished, and the lottery was not forced upon them. The people were thus encouraged to depreciate the power of the officials in favor of their own power. "Many of the people of Tsoi Yun Pa and vicinity are known to be engaged in illicit salt trade ; some of these people were known to Dr. Machle and they may have suspected that Dr. Machle had informed or might inform the officials." The Commission also refers to the ill-feeling on the part of the people of the neighboring village because the foreigners had purchased land and erected buildings on the hill overlooking them. The Revs. A. A. Fulton, D.D., Andrew Beattie, Ph.D., and Wm. D. Noyes, who have resided many years in China, who speak the Chinese language fluently and who by invitation of the Commission heard all the testimony, specify the following as the real causes of the tragedy: "i. The very anti-foreign and anti-mission feeling that has always existed about Lien-chou. "2. The anti-feeling was intensified by the purchase of land and the erection of foreign buildings. "3. The encroachment of the festival last year, and failure of the authorities at that time to make any arrests or inflict any punishment, not even arresting the men who threatened Dr. Machle with death. "4 The disorderly state of affairs which existed by reason of the unsuccessful attempt of the Chinese authorities to establish a new lottery monopoly, that broke up the favorite gambling places of the people and aroused their owners. "5. The condition of affairs resulting from the enrollment of bad char- acters in the Roman Catholic Church and the reluctance of the officials to punish for wrong doing, lest the priest should take up the case and report it to the Viceroy through the French Consul, who would make trouble for the local magistrate. "6. The influence of boycott posters, newspapers, inflammatory litera- ture and the Viceroy's proclamation in antagonizing the people against for- eigners. Large quantities of these placards were distributed." We have just ground for indignation in the disposition of certain newspapers to blame the missionaries. It is nothing less than brutal to sneer at men and women who were devotedly and lovingly consecrating their lives to the uplifting of the Chinese, and who have sealed their devotion by their blood. The en- croachment of a heathen festival upon Protestant mission property, especially after it had been made a year before and protested against, can only indicate a deliberate purpose to in- sult the missionaries and to make trouble with them. It is not at all to the discredit of Dr. Machle that he took advantage of his property rights to protest, especially as the festival was characterized by the firing of cannon, the exploding of fire-crackers, the strident music and other distracting noises incident to a Chinese religious celebration. Such a tumult must have been highly injurious to the many patients in the two hospitals on the premises, to say nothing of the discomfort and possible danger to the missionary families from the excited and turbulent crowd. The temporary shed could be moved, but the hospitals could not. But such a protest, while perhaps sufficient to excite a personal attack upon Dr. Machle, hardly seems an adequate cause for the murder of five other people and the total destruction of the entire mission property, while Dr. Machle himself was unharmed. Nor was the seizing of the alleged can- non a real cause. Dr. Beattie, who saw them afterwards, says that they were only toy cannon about six inches long. Beside, they were returned before the outbreak and the leaders of the mob knew this, for both the village elder and the officials told them. As for the skeleton and other specimens, such objects are a legitimate possession of a physician. But one can easily under- stand how, when captured and borne through the streets, they would inflame an ignorant and superstitious people. The leaders of the mob evidently knew about the specimens and deliberately hunted for them and used them to incite the riot. It is plain that these things were merely superficial causes. The public mind was inflamed against all foreigners, independently of any- thing that the missionaries did, so that an accidental and other- wise unimportant act on their part brought to a crisis a situation that had already become strained by reason of other influences. It is grossly unjust in such circumstances to charge that the act of an individual missionary could have caused the massacre. The act of Dr. Machle, perfectly proper in itself, and which in ordinary circumstances would have had no un- fortunate result whatever, proved to be simply a spark in a pow- der magazine already prepared by other causes. The Rev. Henry V. Noyes, D.D., of Canton, writes: "I wish to say with the strongest possible emphasis that our missionaries in Lien-chou have been rare exanuples of what may be accomplished by tactful treatment of the Chinese and constant discretion. That they have been attacked by a brutal band of ruffians does not change their conduct and character one iota." 13 All the presumptions in common fairness should be in favor of missionaries of known character, intelligence and devotion. One of the missionaries who was killed, Dr. Eleanor Chesnut, was a physician who had devoted herself for years to loving- ministrations to the sick and injured, and she was greatly beloved by multitudes who cared nothing for Christianity. Of the others, one was the wife and another the daughter of a physician, Dr. E. C. Mlachle, and the other two, the Rev. and Mrs. John Rogers Peale were new missionaries who left this country August 16th, and had been in Lien-chou only a day and could not have ofifended anyone. OUTSIDE TUE WOMAN'S HOSPITAL, LIEN-CHUU. It is not without significance that nearly all the Chinese in America have come from the single Province of Kwang-tung in which Lien-chou is situated. Almost every considerable town has or has had a representative in our country. The stories of the ill treatment of Chinese in the United States have gone back lO China by letter and by word of mouth. The Chinese know how their countrymen have been butchered and their property destroyed in scores of American towns. Until recently the resentment did not find popular expression, but now China is be- coming more conscious of her power, more jealous of her dignity and less disposed to submit to insult and discrimination. The fact which (piickly developed that the irritation of the people was not peculiar to Lien-chou but that it prevailed to a greater or less extent in several other and distant parts of the 14 Empire, shows that the real causes were general in their opera- tion and independent of the individuals and their acts at Lien- chou. Missionaries and press correspondents at a score of widely separated places suddenly reported a tension of the Chinese mind and threats of trouble. The Chinese mind was stirred to a ferment independently of the missionaries, and con- ditions at Lien-chou needed only some slight pretext to break forth in fury. Of interest from this view-point is the following opinion expressed by the late Hon. Charles Denby, for thirteen years American Minister at Peking, in the book published since his recent death : "On an analysis of llic bitter anti-Christian movement, we find tliat it is largely to be explained as primarily anti-foreign ; that is, largely directed against missionaries solely as foreigners, not solely as teachers of a foreign religion. We find that 'Some of the spe- cific charges made against the missionaries have no reference to their teach- ings Few, if any, accusations of aggressiveness and personal violence on the part of missionaries against Chinese can be substantiated, while there are authentic cases of bad conduct against Chinese by foreigners of other classes. The missionaries, in the vast majority of cases, are loved by those Chinese with whom they succeed in establishing intimate relations, and they are almost universally respected by all classes in the communities in which they are well known." The local officials in this particular instance appear to have done what they could to protect the missionaries after the out- break had actually occurred, but the official Commission of In- vestigation does not exonerate them. It declares: "The preparation of the officials, both civil and military, in that condition of affairs obtaining at Lien-chou on or about the 28th of October, 1905, was not such as to enable them to preserve law and order in the protection of life and property. "It is believed that a prompt and firm tone on the part of the officials when, they arrived at the hospitals prior to the burning might have been efficacious. The officials, instead of using their soldiers and making a firm stand with fixed bayonets and calling upon the people to disperse or they would fire, merely depended upon pacific means, that of exhortation. "The officials only claim to have had in and around Lien-chou, for a popu- lation of one hundred thousand, on or about the 28th of October, 120 sol- diers. They only claim to have had with them 30 soldiers at the scene of disorder. The officials admit their inability to have coped with the situation. We hold that the officials and troops were insufficient in number and ineffi- cent in quality, and for this condition of afifairs do hold the Viceroy of Kwang-tung Province directly responsible." The causes may be many and complex. But we need not multiply words of explanation. Enough for us that our repre- sentatives are not justly open to any accusation of malice or aggression or unfairness toward the people among whom they lived and labored in the Saviour's name. For those who would seek more particularly into conditions, of which this outbreak 15 MliS. KUVVAUD C. MACULE. was only a symptom, there are the consular reports. But behind all fact and circumstance there lies the lesson of Lien-chou's tragedy — and even through the dark cloud of evil and through this mystery of sorrow we must look for its message and its meaning. Every providence of God brings its message to the waiting heart. In every such mystery there comes a divine appeal. And surely the meanings of this message are not far to seek. The glory of self-forgetfulness in service is there ; the fragrance of faithful witnessing is there, and there the heart- searching call to reality of consecration that does not count life dear. Neither the hero worship of treasured legends nor the fidelity of historians' record can show a tenderness of self-forget- ful service surpassing that of one who in a moment of deadly peril hungered to bind up another's wound. No heart could show such love save one filled with the love and spirit of a Master who while going to His own death could pause to heal a servant's wounded ear. We need not turn to the records of martyr lives in other ages to find the meaning of "faithful unto death." when another whom we knew and loved and who had served her Lord faithfully day by day passed into His presence with His message on her very lips. And if sometimes we seek from Him a word of comfort in a life service that seems unsatisfying we may hear again the message coming, now, from that calm riverside in far away South China, that success, in God's thought, is not measured by the length of service but by its spirit and its consecration. In the glory of these graces so manifest on that day of trial and of triumph we find the deeper meaning of the appeal that the story must bring home to every life. "Ye are witnesses. As the Father hath sent me even so send I you." Even so send I you .... to a life of loving, self- forgetful, self-sacrificing service in His name, it may be to a life that shall find its highest glory in a death for His sake that will bear abundant fruit. And surely in every heart that appeal will find its echo in the words, "I must work the works of Him that sent me while it is day." Those who are most nearly face to face with the reality of this seeming calamity were the first to hear its message of appeal. The Rev. Wm. D. Noyes of Canton, writes : "Perhaps this seems a strange time to call for volunteers, but the Canton Mission never needed them more. We did not see how we could get along with the small force before, and now our thin line is thinner. The murderers need the Gospel. The people not responsible there in Lien- chou need it. We know that this work must go on. In our grief we must write for more like Mrs. Machle, Dr. Chesnut and the Peales to come out and do what they would have Hked to do. They did not count their lives dear. By their death they have claimed Lien-chou for Christ and we must enter into this heritage. Don't have thoughts too hard against the Chinese !" 17 UU. ELEANOR CUESNUT. The stricken Dr. Maclile writes: "I hope I shall have the blessed privilege of rebuilding the mission and spending my remaining days among those people who in a frenzy of anger were influenced by about two hundred rowdies to sanction their work of destruction and pillage. The spiritual work of the mission still temains. Christianity at Lien-chou has not been stamped out. It is only a matter of time when the work at Lien-chou will be in a much more flourishing con- dition than it was before this trouble. The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church. The greater number of the 6,000 persons who wit- nessed the atrocities of the two hundred rowdies, thieves and gamblers, are now very sorrowful that they even lent their presence. Hundreds of the people had been benefited by the hospital. These, when the excitement of that day was over, must have thought of the benefits received and are no doubt at heart our friends." And will tlic Church respond? Already the message has gone home to many a heart and the response has begun to be heard. The pastor of- the Church at Moosic, Pa., which was supporting Mr. and Mrs. Peale writes: "Our church feels that this is a call to a deeper consecration to the work for which Mr. Peale gave himself, and there is open expression that we must have two men to '^tand for us in the place of our pastor who has fallen. Our work will be the firmer because of this call of our God. The church, in fact the town, feels that we must not only not stop our work, but increase it." But will any yoimg men be willing to go to such a place? Already the seed that fell into the ground and died is bringing forth its fruit. Four men promptly ofifered to go. Rev. Mr. J. S. Kunkle was graduated at the Western Theological Seminary last year, and was appointed to the Canton Mission with Mr. Peale, but delayed going for a year as he was given a fellow- ship for superior class standing, so that he is now spending a year at Oxford University, England. Instead of congratulating himself on his escape, he writes: "I cannot help thinking that had I been more zealous, it would have been I that gained a martyr's crown, and a better than I spared for the work. Now I earnestly seek the privilege of taking the place of one of those faithful ones who have given their lives for the cause. If, in the judgment of the Board, these sad events and the increased need justify my leaving my studies and proceeding at once to the field, I shall be very glad to do so. I shall hold myself in readiness to go at any time. I hope our Government will take no steps that will lessen the effect upon the natives of the dying testimony of these faithful servants of God." We believe that the whole Church will be as deeply stirred as the Board has been by such expressions, and that they are indicative of the deep and solemn determination of the Presby- terians of our country to press the work at Lien-chou with new vigor. Already a member of the Board Mr. Warner Van Norden, has pledged $4,000 for the Men's Hospital, and Mirs. James H. A. Brooks $3,000 for the AVomen's Hospital in memory of Mr. James H. A. Brooks. The Board feels that as soon as conditions in that rej^^ion permit the station should be rebuilt. There are still needed a Boys' Boarding^ School (about $3,000, new), a Girls' Boardino- School (about $3,000, new), a Church (about $2,000), and three residences ($2,500 each, one new). This would give us a better equipped station than we had before, but it would still be a modest equipment, and would provide only what is really needed for the enlarging work in this very promising field. An enlarged work, maintained with deepened consecration in this place made sacred by precious sacrifice, will be the most fitting memorial to those whose departure we mourn while in the glory of their triumphant service we rejoice. BIOGRAPHICAL. Mrs. Edward C. Machle (Ella May Wood) was born in Philadelphia, Oct. 28, 1859. She was the daughter of Howard C. and Hannah C. Wood. She was graduated from the Ger- mantown High School, and established a successful kinder- garten in Philadelphia. As a Christian worker she was an ac- tive member of the Wharton Street Church, especially in its Sunday-school and its class for Chinese. In July, 1889, she was married to Dr. Machle of Cincinnati, Ohio, who while a student in the Medical College of Philadelphia labored with her for the Chinese in AVharton Street Church. They sailed for China with Miss Louise Johnston, the first missionaries sent to Lien- chou. Mrs. Machle labored efificiently as a missionary in the Girls' Boarding School, among the women in their homes, and the patients of the Hospital, to whom convalescence was made less tedious through her ministry of love and sympathy. Four children were born. Two are being educated at Wooster, Ohio, one died of diphtheria at Lien-chou about a year ago, and sweet little Amy. eleven years of age, was killed with her mother. Mrs. Machle was a devoted missionary, a loving wife and mother, and a noble woman in every way. On her forty-sixth birthday she laid down her life for Christ. Miss Eleanor Chesnut, M.D., was born in Waterloo, Iowa, Jan. 8, 1868. Orphaned in infancy, she spent her childhood with relatives. At the age of twelve, while living with an aunt in Missouri, she heard of Park College. With an ardent desire for an education, she sought admission, as soon as she was old enough, and after a creditable course was graduated. Conse- crating her life to missions, she studied nursing at the Illinois Training School in Chicago, but not being satisfied with this she took the full course at the Woman's Medical College. After valuable experience as house physician for six months at the Woman's Reformatory in South Framingham. Mass., and a course of Bible study at Moody Institute, Chicago, she sailed for China in the fall of 1894. Her eleven years of missionary service were broken by only one furlough, and that was spent in post-graduate medical work in New York, in caring for a friend, in raising money for a chapel in China, and in further study at Moody Institute. She was proficient in the Chinese language, and in addition to her heavy hospital and dispensary work made several translations into Chinese, studied French IN THE ("IIILDRENS WARD. and German for pleasure, conducted a class of medical students, trained two nurses, taught a blind girl massage and helped in school and church work. Once a week she traveled ten miles on horseback to hold a clinic at Sam Kong. Last year she treated 5,479 patients at the Woman's Hospital. Her devotion to her work knew no bounds and led to great sacrifices most willingly made. She denied herself many of the comforts and some of the necessaries of life in order that she might aid desti- tute Chinese women. Money that friends gave her for personal use, and for a residence she put into the mission work, and con- tinued to live in cramped and uncomfortable rooms over her hospital. She was singularly direct and truthful in all she said and did, a true fricMul. a brave and fearless woman. She spoke of death as welcome, at any time, for Christ and China. During the year tliat J)r. Chesnut lived alone, the only white person in Lien-chon, the station made substantial progress and she was unmolested. An exploring English scientist passed through Licn-chou and was astonished to find this young Ameri- can woman in that remote interior city. He paid high tribute to her courage and made a gift to her hospital. When the Rev. W. H. Lingle made her a visit, he found her about to amputate a man's leg in order to save his life. Mr. Lingle assisted her, but the slight woman did the surgical work herself. The man lived and believed in her and in Christ. Last year she asked the Board to send another physician to take her hospital at Lien-chou and to permit her to remove to an out-lying city where no work was being done saying that she was not afraid to live alone. But the Board felt that the plan was unwise. It indicated, however, her splendid courage and zeal. When dur- ing her furlough she heard Dr. Fenn of Peking in an address on China say that if he had many lives he would gladly give them all for that country, she turned to a friend and said, "I honestly believe that I could say the same." Her physical strength was not sufficient for her indefatigable labors and about a year ago she had a very serious illness. She recovered but did not fully regain her vigor. In her last known letter she quoted these lines : "Being in doubt, I say, Lord, make it plain; Which is the true, safe way? Which would be vain? I am not wise to know, Nor sure of foot to go, My blind eyes cannot see What is so clear to Thee. Lord, make it clear to me. "Being perplexed, I say. Lord, make it right; Night is as day to Thee, Darkness as light. T am afraid to touch Things that involve so much, My trembling hand may shake, My skilless hand may break, Tliine can make no mistake." The Rev. John Rogers Peale was born in IMoomficld, Pa., September 17, 1879, and was graduated from Lafayette College in 1902. He was an honor man in his class, President of the Y. M. C. A., and editor of the College Annual. He won the Cole- man Biblical Prize in his Freshman year, and was three times a delegate to Northfield and was leader of the Student Volunteer Band. His chief purpose while in College was the spiritual up- lift of the college life. He entered Princeton Seminary in the fall of 1902 and became very popular there also. A fellow student writes: "Seldom has there been a student more intensely in- terested in Foreign Missions. He was a man of constant prayer life. Many men testify that on coming into his room, they often found him on his knees. He kept a map of the world hung on his wall to keep ever before him the claims of the world." THE REV. JOHN ROGERS PEALE. He was graduated from Princeton Seminary in 1905, and sailed for China August 16th. Almost immediately after his arrival the massacre occurred. His death came as a great shock to the entire student body at Princeton. Yet no greater stimu- lus could have come to the Seminary for Foreign Missions than the martyrdom of this one beloved by all, who worked so zeal- ously for that cause while here. Instead of its being a damper thrown upon the cause, men are hearing in it a clarion call to rise and fill the gap left vacant. On Sunday afternoon, Novem- ber 4, a memorial service was held and practically the entire 23 student body and faculty were there. It was one of the most impressive meetings ever held in Princeton. Mr. Peak often began a missionary address with the dying words of Charles Young, who died while a senior in this Seminary, "Go to the heathen, they cannot die as I die." His message to Princeton Seminary and the Presbyterian Church at large is now an invita- tion, "Come to the heathen, they cannot die as I die." One of his last letters breathed a spirit of such large-minded sympathy MRS. REBECCA (ilLLESPIE PEAEE. with the Chinese that when it was sent to Sir Chentung Liang Cheng, Chinese Minister at Washington, His Excellency replied: '"His words seem to me to have a prophetic ring. In his un- timely death America has lost a noble son, and China a true friend." Mrs, Rebecca Gillespie Peale was born in Cecil County, Maryland, August 16, 1878. Mr. Horace Gillespie writes: "Her father, George Gillespie, died when she was but three years of age. She became a member of the Nottingham church when 24 fourteen years old. About four years ago she met Mr. Peale and was married to him June 29, 1905, a few weeks before start- ing for China. Mrs. Peale lived a simple, happy and cheerful life. She was reared in a home where Christianity was a thing to be lived. Whatever she did in the social and spiritual life of the church was done freely and with pure enjoyment. She was interested in mission work as in every other good thing that came into her life. When she decided to go to China, she took up her work with an enthusiasm which grew as she learned more about it and of her husband's devotion to it. Her character was well summed up in a recent letter of a friend to her mother: 'There are none of us who knew her, whom she had not helped in showing how daily life might be made a religion, and how God's service might consist in doing our ordinary duties cheer- fully and well.' " All of these beloved missionaries had unreservedly con- secrated themselves to the service of Christ. They were ready to go at any time that the Master called. They were faithful unto death, and they have received the martyr's crown. May God give unto us all like fidelity ! In the immortal words of Lincoln at Gettysburg, "We should 'be dedicated to the great task re- maining before us ; that from these honored dead we take in- creased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion ; that we highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain." Form No. 777 Date Due OC ltl*S 1 00 2^^^^ Uo^^5tf «'.'^'' f) THE WILLETT PRESS NEW YORK p