The republic. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1849-1853, 1853-06-14

- ~" .o.A '"''' ~. arts Of L. Htpatlleaw
y. ''' ne following article upon thu re-
..os Revolutionary movements in CHINA. B,
what Authority there has ossn Any Americaafi
interSentts~, To check the progress Of the in
surrectiou. we do not understand. II any suct
has taken place, we think it as unwise as it i,
unauthorized. We have nothing Of right to dt
either with seeking to overthrow or to perpetu.
ate the dynaetes Of other continents. Let thei,
own people take care of them. When they
are ripe for change they will accomplish il
without our aid; but we should certainly be the
last nation on the face of the earth to interpose
any obstacles to the progress of popular revo-
lutons:
REvoLur1oh III CHINA.
Two revolutions Is sudden as unexpected
have occurred to divert for 4 moment the >.
ten,ion of Europe from the agits.;. II IL,
she is herself the ..ue.tre poit;r;.ns "n n",0
have ter eyes fixed upon two empires. which
by their position and influence, seem to conn
plete the civilization OF the East, The one
TURKEY, which, with one foot resting on the
continent of Europe, is by its position the inter
mediate and the centre Of the commerce and
operations of the Levant; the other. CB,r.
presenting IN her manners her religion and her
commerce striking antithesis to the deyei-
oPment, the manners, the usages, and the laws
of the people Of the West.
To-day we speak only Of the latter empire.
II we have included TURKEY in the catalogue
OF revolutions, 1t is because, in our Judgment.
she is implicated inevitably in the general
revolution to which the whole world paws tri.
butte, and forms, so TO speak, the first page Of
the volame of which China closes the last leaf.
Those who do not believe in an approaching
change in the actual order of things In EuRops
will perhaps open their eyes when they find
that it is not Europe only but ASIA also that
Is agitater. Thus, instead of being shut up in
the narrow frame of European geography.
revolution extends its, circle among the pachas
OF one or more tails, and even goes 80 far az to
attempt the secular gnity of mandarins, and
the immutable grandeur of 1Yen and Mien,
heirs in the line direc fthe Sun and Moonl
1t may be recollected that the first news of
revelation In CHINA caused great astonsh-
ment in this city. The very general habit in
America of judging the present by the past, pre-
vented the entertainment OF any such idea in
regard to the affairs of China So when the
Intelligence first arrived in New York, MANY
people refused to believe it. All that was
known of political movements in China was
obscured In the night ofages. The recollection
OF them was COMPOUNDED with the first invasions
of the Tartars, and the erection OF the celebrated
tower OF porcelain. However, the news being
confirmed, it was necessary to credit it. Then
1t was sought to give to the revolution a reli-
I'd L..
MEDHURsT, missionary to Shanghai, affirmed
that the rebellion has Christian character.
He sustained his allegation by the proclama-
ton of an insurgent chief who seemed in fact
to possess slight smattering of the Bible No
doubt! it was the Christian and protest which
had placed the lance in the hands of Chinese
chiefs, and hurled them against Tartar Pagan
ism. MIR. GUrZLATF, the intrepid apostle of the
Association of the Christian Union, whose
name is intimately connected with the progress
Of Professionalism in China, had been, they say,
the promoter Of the Instruction
Everywhere the Chinese denied the truth
of this assertion in their journals. They pre-
tended that the rebels were image breakers
and that the religion of the Chinese consisted
in the worship of single God, and was conse
quently superior to the revelation with the &C
mysteries in which the Protestants
enveloped their religion.
Thus far it would not appear that the insur
gents, any more than their opponents, were ac-
tuated by very lively faith Hitherto the
orthodoxy of the first has been that of blood
murder, and pillage. They have razed cities.
violated women, murdered infants; when their
depredations have not displayed themselves on
a large scale, they have taken the shape of
upon tie highways, and like those
of the Italian bandits have been exercised in
detail over the entire surface of the Chinese
empire, from north to south, from east to west
We should have some scruples, therefore, in
adhering to the views of Doctors MEpHURsr
and GUrzLArF. Blood and murder need not
enter as essential elements in the propagation
OF faith; and We prefer to believe that the in
surgents acted on their own account, and ac-
cordlng 10 their own instincts, rather than
to charge Christianity with the weight OF such
horrors.
III we had motive to assign to the Chinese
revolution, we should find it in the nobIest of
sentments-the sentiment of nationality in
the most legitimate Of resistances-the resist
ance to oppression. We know, in fact. that
the present dynasty, like the dynasties which
Cypress Italy and France, is foreign dynas-
ty. 1t only succeeded the conquest of China
by the Tartars Since the epoch of their ele
walton to the empire, the Chinese have paid
tribute TO their conquerors they have been
governed by princes whose power recalled
their defeat. and they have never ceased to
mprmur against the foreign yoke. To-day,
become strong by many ages ofoppression, they
have rallied under common standard-the
standard of their county; they fight for their
nationality, their independence who will re-
fuse to join with them in their efforts?
Therefore, it has been with a painful emo
ton that we find, in the European journals re
celved by the Canada, news of an intervention
on the part of the united fleets of England,
France, and America, for the purpose of ar
resting the progress of the insurgents, and pro
tecting the ports of Shanghai and Nankin and
the mouth of the canal. The insurgents de-
served better. In spite of what we are told of
the violence which has accompanied their vic
tories-vioence justified in some sort by the
rude and savage manners of the country-we
confess that they have enlisted our sympathies.
They had on their side the question of nation
allty and the oppression of foreign dynasty /;
they had on their side success and the good
wishes of the country. Now :hey have no.
thing to expect but the continuation of the
same yoke, the perpetuation of the same gov
eminent. Is this what thew had riUht tn