The Sun.
London, England, 1853-09-03 00:00:00

LONDON, SATURDAY EVENING

PERSECUTION OF ROMAN CATHOLICS BY
THE CHINESE INSU.RGENTS.

The Univers publishes the following letter from
M. Maresca, Apostolic Administrator of Nankin,
dated Shanghai, the Bth June, of persecutions by
the Chinese insurgents against the Roman Catho-
lic Christians : _ _

"The insurgents arrived on the Bth March before the
walls of the town of Nankin, and established their camp
in 28 divisions. They dug mines under the walls ana
filled them with gunpowder, and on the 19th partially
blew them up, together with the eastern gate. Imme-
diately after a signal was given, and they rushed some
to the breach and others to the wall with an impetuosity
which alarmed the defenders. In their first attack they
made themselves masters of the town. The mandarins,
who were not able to escape, were seized and put to
death. On the 20th March, the insurgents spread
through the town, and carried everywhere terror and
death. A venerable old man, chief of the Christians,
was killed in his house with his eldest son ; his second
son was grievously wounded, the third was carried off
captive, and the youngest ran away. On. the same
day, four other Christians fell in the mg/ee. On the
21st March, the family Tseu, the wealthiest and most
distinguished amongst the Christians, were driven
from their house, which the insurgents required for
their chiefs .;
and thirty-one members of this family
were confined in a neighbouring house, and were
there burned to death. Two young men, belonging to
the same family, aged 17 and 18, who were absent when
their relatives were burned, have just arrived at Shang-
hai, after having begged their way—a distance of from
70 to 80 leagues. Five other members of the same
family were also absent at the execution of the 31, but
it is not known where they have gone, nor what has be-
come of them. All that belonged to the Christian com-
munity of Nankin, church, ornaments, money, and
papers, were deposited with the family Tseu, and conse-
quently all are entirely lost. The same day, several
persons entered the chapel of the town, where the
Christians were assembled, and recited the prayers of

the holy week. They forbade prayers on the knees, and
wanted the Christians to recite, seated, the new prayer
of Tien-Fou. The Christians replied that they were
Catholics and did not know any other religion. It was
notified to them that if, within three days, they did not
decide on obeying, they would all be decapitated. On
the 24th March, some wretches entered the chapel, and
attempted to do violence to some young Christian women,
but they were soon obliged to leave, and since then there
have been no attacks of the kind. In the afternoon a
new summons was made to adore Tien-Fou ; a new
refusal was given by the Christians ;. and new me-
naces followed. On the 25th of March, the Christians
were adoring the cross, according to the custom, on
Good Friday. The insurgents entered all at once,
crying and menacing ; they broke the crucifix, over-
threw the altar, and then wished to have their prayer
recited- at the same time presenting the Christians with
books in which it is written. A catechist took a re-
ligious book, the Explanation of the commands of God,
and presented it to one of the chiefs. He hastily exa-
mined it, and returned it, saying, Your religion is a
good one—ours is not to be compared to it ; but the new
Emperor has given his orders, and you must obey them
or die.' After summonses, which were repeated in vain,
the soldiers seized the Christians and tied their hands
behind their backs. The women and children exhorted
the men to suffer with a good heart for their faith. They
were bound and ill-treated in their turn. All being thus
bound, the men were told that they would be conveyed
before the tribunal of the Emperor to hear their sen-
tence ; the women and children followed them, and all
went gaily. When they arrived at the tribunal they
were kept for some time in outer rooms • and then some
officers presented themselves and told them, on the part
of the Emperor, that, as they would not obey, they were
all condemned to death, and were to be executed at the
Western Gate. They were sent off to the place of execu-
tion • but at the door of the tribunal an old man, who was
unable to walk, was beheaded. The others arrived toge-
ther at the designated place—they were about one hun-
dred in number. New demands were made upon them
to do as they had been desired, but they constantly re-
plied, We are Christians !' Many threats were made,
but no one was executed. Towards the evening all
were brought back to the town, and conveyed to a
great store, which was formerly the church of Nan-
kin. They there passed the night with their hands bound
—and some were attached to columns. One succeeded
in unbindining himself and in escaping. The day after
new threats were made, and some blows were given.
On Eastern day all expected to die. Some officers en-
tered the place, and asked if they would recite the
prayer. Some said, You should kill them all, for they
will not obey !' but another answered, 'No—for in that
case they would go to heaven, and would have what
they desire; whilst we should be guilty of sin !' How-
ever all the Christians remained firm and yielded no-
thing. Some women especially, and even some children
cried, ' Kill us all, that we may be martyrs and go to
heaven !' Some of the soldiers, despairing of being able
to subdue the courage of the women, and no doubt
not having orders to kill them, opened the doors of the
store-house, and forced them to leave with their children.
They all went to the chapel, where they have since re-
mained with the children ; they are between 70 and 80
in number. The men remained in the store with their
hands more tightly bound than on the first day.
On the 28th March some young men, fatigued with
suffering and dreading new torments, persuaded
themselves that they might recite the famous prayer,
because it contains nothing contrary to the dogmas of
our holy religion. After having protested that they in-
tended to remain Catholics, twenty-two recited the
prayer, and were immediately unbound ; but the others
declared that they would die rather than recite it before
they knew that it was good ; and some of them in con-
sequence were cruelly beaten. Since then those who
wavered have felt greatly humiliated, and regret that
they did not imitate the firmness of their brethren and
the courage of the women and children. Whilst the
women and children remained in the chapel without a
single man to assist or protect them, the men were or-
dered to serve the insurgents either as soldiers or la-
bourers. Ten of them who were taken to fight against
Tseu-Kiang took advantage of an obscure night to leave
their ranks and run away. They have come here to re-
count to us what they witnessed. It was on the 14th
April that they succeeded in escaping. Since their depar-
ture from Nankin they have heard it said that the insur-
gents have sent a good many women and children out of
the town. The bridge of the great canal is said to have given
way beneath the crowd, and more than a thousand per-
sons are said to have been drowned. We are not aware
whether any Christians left on that occasion. We have
also received news from Yang-Tcheu. On the Ist April'
the rebels entered the town without meeting with any
resistance. However, they committed the same horrors
as at Nankin, and the Christiana were not spared. They
took the officers of the chapel, bound them, and carried
them off with their families. They wanted all of them
to recite the prayer of Tien-Fou. Thereupon two cate-
chists stepped forward and clearly explained our dogmas
and our usages. As a punishment for this it was ordered
that three hundred blows should be given to one, and
five hundred to the other. It is not yet known if they
have been able to survive this cruel flagellation, and
other bad treatment to which they were subjected. On
the whole, out of six hundred Christians in Nankin,
Yang-Tcheu, and Tseu-Kiang, fifty have been slain or
burned to death, and several have been bound and
beaten. Most of them have lost all they had and re-
main captives ; exposed to all sorts of dangers for the
soul of the body."

CASE OF MRS. NORTON.