Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1869-01-03
CHINA.
The Late Outragss On Missionaries I'm
Chins-A Glance ut Chinese Manners.

The Vieeroy has given way on tn,
point of degrading the Project anC
Magistrate of the city, both O
whom have been removed from
office. He is also willing to pay
for the actual value of property
destroyed by the rioters, and foi
the cost of medical attendance on
the missionary who was injured
but he declines to admit the term
compensation" in the sense in
which We employ it; he will give no
more than will actually reimburse
the sufferers. He consents to issue
a proclamation setting forth the
right of missionaries to reside and
teach in the interior; but he refuses
to carve on stone, as Her Britannia
Majesty s Consul demanded, brief
history of the present riot and of
the punishment inflicted. He SAYS
it IS not customary to carve procla-
nations Of the kind on stone, and
to do so in this instance would be
to perpetuate i'll feeling on the part
of the Chinese. He declines to
punish the literati accused by Mr..
Medhurst, alleging them to be above
suspicion.
The English view of the case
differs slightly from Tseng- kwo-
fans. We consider the 1000 taels
asked a very moderate sum. About
93OO would go to pay actual loss,
and certainly $500 is not a heavy
compensation to ask for the treat
ment to which the missionaries
were subjected. The sum is too
small in fact, to be called compen-
sation. Its exaction is intended
rather as confession of wrong
done, and there is no disposition to
give way on this or any other of the
disputed points. To the Viceroy's
allegation that it is not customary
and would be irritating to engrave
on stone a proclamation ofthe kind
required we have very excellent
answer in the shape of an existent
proclamation at Hang-chOw. 1t is
well known that Young Ching,
third Emperor of the rcigning dy-
nasty, showed himself as averse
from Christianity as his great pre-
decessor Kang hi had been favor
able. The Jesuit missionaries lost
the high influence they had enjoyed
at Court, converts were prosecuted,
and mission temples cOnfiscated or
RACED In the year 1870 Roman
Catholic Church at Hang chow was
thus changed from u Christian to a
heather temple, and dedicated to
the worship of T'ien horn, the god
dess protectress OfsailOrs and fisher
men. The inscription recording
this change was engraved on stone
and still stands in Hang-chOw. 1t
sets forth at length the various in
iquities of missionaries, prominent
among which is the destruction of
ancestral worship, and concludes by
a glowing eulogy of T'ien-hOn:
Owing to her protection, fishers
and traders have travelled over the
ocean pillows and stormy surf,
with a fixed day for going and re
turning, as safely as if they were
navigating the rivers, creeks and
bays; for the spirit of Tien-hOrn
has watched over them"
Now, if the engraving of proc
lamation on stone be admissible as
against Christians, it is admissible
in their favor; and a standing re-
cord of reparatiOn exacted may be
a useful lesson. The MandariEs
easily mislead the people as to the
real purport of events, but when 4
confession of wrong is publicly set
up this will be less easy. 1t is easy
to conceive that they dislike the
alternative, but the measure is de-
sirable, and not unfair. Poclama-
lions, it must be remembered, are
the official mode of communication
in China between Mandarins and
people Instead of being inserted
in newspapers, notifications are
stuck on walls. Important events,
generally of a pleasant kind, are
exceptionally engraved OH stone
tables TO give the record perma-
nenCe. ... ..-....
The punishment of the hterati
whom we accuse of implication in
the riots is the most serious demand
of all. They are all retired officials
Of high standing: one is an ex-Vice-
roy of Canton. They are the lead
ers Ofevery local movement, wheth-
er to start charity, oppose rebels,
abuse q Mandarin, or eject mission
aries. They have, in fact, more in
fuence than the local officials them
selves. Common report among the
Chinese ascribes to them the author
ship of the present movement; a
letter written by literate of Yang
tchou to friend in Shanghai names
them all as instigators the fact of
their known influence would alone
be sufficient to awaken strong sus-
picion, and, as matters now stand,
is confirmatOry of their fault. But
esprit de corps and an old friend
ship for one of their number rem
ders Tseng very disinclined to pun
ish them. He refused po:ntblank
to do so and the evidence against
them in our hands, though eOnvinc-
ing to us, is not of nature to ap-
pear convincing in the body of dis
patch. How negotiations on this
point will eventuate remains TO be
seen. Actually, these literati are
the most guilty parties, and their
punishment is the kernel Of the
whole case.
| Baldwin, the assassin of Mr.. William
Parker, late Superintendent of the
Panama Railroad, died at Aspinwall on
the morning Of the 10Th instant, after
lingering for nearly three months from
the effects of the wound in his head, in.
flicted by his own hands. On several
occasions he attempted to take his OWL
life, but the vigilance of his keepers pre-
vented him from so doing. He never ex
pressed regret for the bloody deed.
s-
| A WRITER in the atlantic Monthly
gives some startling evidence TO prove