Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1874-06-24
THE TONG-kING MAoSACRES.
Fearful Slaughter OF Chinese Chris
tians-The Flight of an Archbishop.

THE TONG-KING MAsSACRES.
Fearful Slaughter OF Chinese Chris.
tians-Thc Flight OF an Archbishop.
The French periodical, Missions
Catalogues, gives us the first authen
tic and detailed narrative of the recent
massacre of Roman Catholic native
converts in China, to which we have
already briefly alluded. The account
as translated for the London Tablet,
relates that the massacre broke out or
tue 25th Of February, when the {" litel
ates,' as the prosecuting party are
called, opened the campaign by be-
heading two men in the service Of Pere
Doare and Christian, whom they then
threw into the river. The same day
they burnt the three villages of Trun.
Nam, Nio-Vinh and Bau Tach, and
massacred the inhabitants that were In
them. Those who succeeded in escap.
ing to the woods were hunted down
with hounds, brought back and killed
on the following days. The river
was covered over with bodies floating
down it from the side Of Lareg. AT
that time the murderers were massa-
creing the Christians Of the parish OF
Hoiven, and were burning their vii.
lagos. Those who took refuge III the
cliffs OF the neighborhood were hunted
down and burned alive. The grand
mandarin Of Justice was at the market
Of Sa Nam with 500 soldiers, but re-
NAMED an inactive spectator Of the
massacre of the Christians of Nam
Duong, only few of whom were able
to escape. = The literates who
were the heads of the militia appointed
to massacre the Christians, say that the
work Of determination, carried GU
under the eyes Of the mandarins, was
concerted between the Court and the
literates; and was done in reprisal fol
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 IL
their career.
One of the chiefs, who had just
caused two Christians to be murdered
on the high road, went on the parade
before the Governor Of the citadel, by
whom he was dismissed with honor.
On his return twenty women or chill.
dren fell under the swords Of this man
and his followers. He had just come
from Offering sacrifice to the Goddess
of Prostitution, to whom a famous
temple that stands near the road Is
dedicated.
In ceveral localities they take an
entire family, father, mother and
children, bind them together with
bamboos, and then fling the bundle OF
living humanity into the waves. First,
however, they take care TO cut Off the
mans head. The multitude Of dead
bodies thus fastened together in groups
Of from eight to ten blocks up the
principal river but, to the great sur
prise of everybody, does not send
forth any bad smell.
There are then five parishes, con-
tanning nearly ten thousand Christians,
which have to be blotted out OF the
mission, namely: Lang, Thank-Huyen,
Nam-Duong, Hoy Yen and Doreg-
Thank. Many of the victims died IN
the midst of the flames.
A village Of more than 400 Christians
was attacked by the iterates and soon
became prey to the flames. Amongst
these four hundred Christians there
were one hundred and twenty, more OF
less, who succeeded in saving them
selves by taking refuge IN large vii
lage near by. The remainder-about
three hundred-were nearly all massa.
cred.
Two small villages Of Christians, sit.
uated two hours walk from the place
at which I then was, were hemmed in
by the Pagans. The Mayor visited
each house, numbered the Christians,
and forbade them, under threat of the
most severe punishment, to go out OF
doors 4 few Of the Christian women
attempted to go to the market to keep
themselves from starving. They never
returned. Some Pagan women who
went with them say that the Christian
women were captured and beheaded.
Two men from one of these same vii
lagos hazarded a fight during the
night; they crossed the great river by
misfortunes. Alas writes Archbishop
Gauthier, from whose letters this lnfor-
nation is chiefly derived:
"I could do nothing but weep with
them, being unable to Go anything to
succor them. Two or three days after
wards I learned that all the men in
that village had had their heads cut of,
but the women and children were
spared. And as their houses were in
termingled with those of the pagans,
it was forbidden to burn them down.
I now understood the extent of the
danger that threatened myself and the
village in which I was living. I never
ceased hearing confessions by day and
by night. Everybody came to confess
to prepare for death, for everybody
was expecting to be killed. Those dea,
Ci, g., In -,l.zal 70