The Hickman courier. [volume] (Hickman, Ky.) 1859-current, 1874-06-27
THE MASSACRE IN CHINA.
The Recent Dreadful Slaughter .
chinese Christians.

chinese Christians.
The French periodical, Missions Gath
! oliques, gives us the irst authentic and
! detailed narrative Of the recent masso-
ere of Roman Catholic native converts
in China, The account. as translated
for the London Tablet, relates that tbe
massacre broke out on the 25th of Feb
ruary, when the !" "literates. }" as tbe
prosecuting party is called, opened the
campaign by beheading two men in the
! service of Pere Doare and a Christian.
whom they then threw into the river.
The same day they burned the three
villages of Turn -Ilafa, Nio-Yinh and
| Bau-Tach, ana mass&cred the inhabi-
tants that were in tEam. Those who
succeeded in escapir to the woods
were hunted down with hThounds, brought
back and killed on the following day.
The river was covered pyer with bodies
floating down it from tt.e side of Lareg.
-alaf time the mHrdsssers were massa-
-. - sheissiaps = the perish viii
seigi IS, Il s-.,..s.s =. .
down and burned alive. The grand
mandarin of justice was at the market
of Sa-Nam with eight lpIndred soldiers,
but remained an inactive spectator of
the massacre of the Christians of Nam
Duong, only few of whom were able
to escape. The Iiterates.
who were the heads .of the militia APP
pointed to massacre the Christians, say
that the work of determination carried
out under the eyes of the mandarins
was concerted between the court and
the hterates, and was done in reprisal
for recent events. The mandarins have
Just received orders from the court not
to employ any other means save those
of persuasion to stop the murderers IN
their career. One of the chiefs who
had Just caused two Christians to be
murdered on the highroad went on the
parade before the gayernor of the cita-
del, by whom he was dismissed with
honoi. On his return twenty women or
children fell under the sword of this
man and his ollowers. He had Just
come from Offering sacrifice to the god
dess of prostitution, to whom famous
temple that stands near the road is ded-
icated.
In several localities they take an en-
tire family father, mother, and chill
dren--bind them together with bam-
boos, and then fling the bundle of living
humanity into the waves First, how
ever, they take care to cut off the mans
head. The multitude of dead bodies
thus fastened together in groups of from
eight to ten block up the principal
river, but to the great surprise of every
body does not send forth any bad smell
There are then five parishes, containing
TO, 900 Christians, which have to be blot
ted out of ths mission-namely, Lang
Thank -Huyen, Nam-Duorg, Hoy-Yen,
and DoN Thank Mauy of the victiAs
died in he midst s6o Of flames flames, A villa
tackled by the literates, and soon became
prey to the flames. Amongst these
800 Christians there were 100, more or
less, who succeeded in saving them
selves by taking refuge in large village
near by. The remaiuder-abOut 300
were nearly all massacred.
Two small villages of Christians, stu
ated two hours walk from the place at
which [ then was, were hemmed in by
the pagans. The mayor visited each
house, numbered the Christians, and
forbade them, under threat of most |
A few of the tJnrIsUIsn women attempted |
to 90 to the market to keep themselves |
from starving. They never returned. |
Some pagan women that went with |
them say that the Christian women were /
captured and beheaded. Two men from |
one of these same villages Eazarded a
flight during the night; they passed
the great river by swimming, and came
to me to tell their misfortunes. ALAS"
writes Archbishop Gauthier, from whose
letters this information is chiefly de-
rived, IL could do nothing but weep
for then being unable to do anything
to succok Them Two or three days aftdv
wards [ learned that all the men in the
village had had their heads cut of, but
the women and children were spared.
And, as their houses wee intermingled
with those of the pagans, it was forbid
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