The Nevada Democrat., 1858-06-02
ARscsnt Nrls.lon.rx Martyr.

Opinions are divided IS to Chinese civiliza-
tion. Part of the civilized regard the China
man Of this day as the result of an etfete ultra
civilization; the other part looks upon him as
q narrOw-minded barbarian. In theory, the
aforementioned supposition is perhaps correct
in practice, the last is most likely, is proven
by the terrible and wanton cruelties practiced
Hpon an inoffensiVe Jesuit missionary aud sew
ersl Of his Chinese converts. last year, in the
! province Of Quang-si, in southern China, cir
cumstantal accounts Of which, by On eye-wit-
ness, have recently beea received in France
The Rev. Father Chapelaine had labored for Q
number Of years faithfully and quietly in vari'
Gus provinces of the Chinese Empire. Genial
iDoffensive, ingenious, and man Of letters
| even in the Chinese sense Of that term, the
good father Was more than usually successful
| in gaining the good will of the people among
whom he labored. and even in conciiating the
authorities generally in his favor, so far as to
cause them to leave him unm0lested. Thus mat
| ters had gone for some years, until February o.
last year, when, being then resident in = city
of the province of Quang-si, be found himsel
suspected by the authorities Of being in league
with the--at that time-victorious rebels. The
facts Of the case seem to hsvc been, that the
chief mandarins feared the worthy fathers in
duence among the people; for be had, by his
preaching, exhortations and prayers, made nu-
| mereus converts to Christianity.
On February 26th. patrol of mandarin sol
diers suddenly entered the house where Father
Chapelains was staying, and rudely dragged
him before the mandarin judge. Here, placed
| in the midst of u large concourse OF people, he
was Intercepted as to his purpose aud political
sentiments. So well did he answer, that the
maudarius saw they should lose their prey, die
they not silence him. They therefore ad
dressed to him some blasphemous question
whsreupon the father kept silence, aud thu
enectuslly preserved his dignity during mos
angry Interrogation.
Made furious by the calm dignity Of thu
priest, the chief mandarin judge al length or
dered him to be bastihadOed. Hereupon, W,
read, o touching scene ensned. Several younl
converts to Christianity stepped forward, ant
inplored that they might receive the blows
instead Of the aged father.
You shall bear him company" said th
Judge, aud ordered four of them to be stretched
out with Father Cbapelaine. The last then re
ceved one hundred and fifty blows with bam
boo upon the sOles OF his teet-sufficient, offer
to kill an able bodied man. He bore these
without murmur. Enraged at his heroic 81
lence, he Was then taken to one Of the square!
| OF the town, and placed in a cangue, or wooden
collar, where for three hours he was left bare
headed, exposed to the heat Of the sun and tO
the jeers OF the multitude. His position was
one Of the utmost discomfort He was, in fact
suspended by the head in an iron cage, in a
sem-crouchug position, so that his lower limbs
we're of no support to his body. Here, amidst
the abusive cries of an immense crowd, the poor
! father suffered for three mortal hours, several
times losing his consciousness, but never (sO
writes a Chinese Christian, an eyewitness 10
the whole scene) gratifying his prosecutors by
cry of mercy.
The following day he was brought out again
The crowd was now ferOcious They demanded
blood. Again he was stretched upon the
ground and again one hundred and fifty blOwi
! with a stout bamboo were administered upon
his swollen and n6amed feet He tainted du
ring the operation. One of his native fellow.
martyrs gave up the ghost while undergoing
the same punishment. Still the father kept ST.
lehce-not cry of mercy Saluted the ears Of
his prosecutors.
Such unheard of endurance could not come
from natural causes, thought the mandarins
aud the populace. The unfortunate man must
| be q magician. So, while hc Wae yet lying in
a swoon on the ground, dog was brought, his
head cut of, and the insensibe body Of the
missionary was sprnkled with the hot blood
This was TO exercise the devil of endurance
He was then returned to prison for that day
| and here one OF his followers. by means of a
bribe, obtained access 10 him ts dress his grev.
Gus wounds
But the poor mans sufferings were not YET
over On the folowng-the third-day, he
was taken out to the square of punishment, and
there underwent the final torture Of the knives
| This is, We believe, a mode of punishment pecu
| liar TO the Chinese. The unfortunate sutferer
! is stripped and tied 10 q stout stake in the
midst of the square, and then, the judges and
high mandarins being present, the execution
ers-generally five or six in number-bring on
! q large covered basket flled with knives
! Each of these knives is marked with the name
Of some portion Of the human body, and is de
voted to the mutilatiOn Of that part. The exc
cutioner puts ia his hand, aud drawing out
knife at random, performs the operation which
chance has pointed out Even this intense tor
ture failed to elicit signs Of pain from the Chris
tian hero. lie bore all without complaint Hi
hands, his arms, bis thighs, his breast, wer'
successfully mutilated; and at last, when bleed
ing at every pore, he was disenbOwelled, ant
his eutrails thrown to q Gagged wolf brought 70
the purpose.
The next knife brought death. II was th
headsman's tool, and at one blow the head wa
severed from the mutilated trunk.
So suffered Christian missionary in thi
nineteenth century. This tale Of horror viii
! shsrpen the swords of those Frenchmen anC
EnKlisbmen who are now bearing the banner
of their countries into China. Whatever may
be thought Of the Chinese As people, the in
science OF their officials is beyond bearing with
and 1t ia to be hoped that they will, In the pres
snt war, be taught-at the swords pOint-a
no other way seems likely to suceeed-endur
ing lessons Of moderation and tOleration.
int haa haan n