Wilmington journal., 1874-08-21
MASSACRE OF CHRISTIANS IN CHINA

Ten Thousand Native Christians
Slnughtered-BIood Scenes and
Heroic Suffering.
The French periodical, Mission Cath
oliques, of the last of July, gives the
first authentic and detailed narrative
of the recent massacre of Roman
Catholic native converts in China. The
account, as translated for the London
Tablet, says:
"The massacre broke out on the
25th of February, when the Iiterates.'
as the 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 Trun-Lam,
Fic- -Ninh, and Bau-Tach, and massa-
creed 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 day. The river was
covered with bodies floating down it
from the side of Lareg. At that time
the murderers were massacreing the
Christians of the parish of Holven, and
were burning their villages. Those
| who took refuge in the cliffs of the
neighborhood were hunted down and
| burned alive. The Grand Mandarin
of Justice was Mt the market of Sa-Nam
with 500 soldiers, but remained an
| inactive spectator of the massacre of
the Christians Of Nam-Duong, only
few of whom were able to escape.
THE LrrERATEs,
who were the heads of the militia ap-
| pointed TO massacre the Christians,
say that the work of determination
| carried out under the eyes of the man.
| darins was concerted between the
court anl the Eterates, and was done
| i'll reprisal for recent events. The
mandarin5 have just received orders
from the court not 20 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 Dc 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 and children
fell under the sword OF this man and
his followers. He had just come from
| Offering sacrifice 10 the goddess OF
prostitution, to whom fam ous temple
that stands near the road is dedicated.
NODE OF TORTURE AND uEATH
"In several localities they take on
entire FAM mly-fathec, mother and
children-bind taem together with
| bain1oos, and then fling the bundle of
| however, they take pains 10 cut OFF the
mans head. The multitude of dead
| bodies thus fastened together in
groupes OF from eight to ten block up
the principal river, but to the great
surprise OF everybody does not send
! forth any bad smell There are then
five parishes, containing 10000 Chris
| tians, which have to be blotted out of
the mission, namely: Lang-Thark-
Huyei, Nam-Duong, Hoy-Yen, and
| Doreg Taank.
Many of the victims died in the
midst of flames. A village of more
than 400 Christians was attacked by
the literates, and soon became a prey
| to the flames. Among these 400 Christ
lans were 12O, more or less, who sue
ceeded in saving themselves by taking
refuge in large village near by. The
| remainder, about 800, were nearly all
| massacred. Two small villages of
| Christians, situated two hours walk
from the place at which I then was,
were hemmed in by the pagans. The
mayor visited each house, nun bered
the Christians, and forbade them un-
der threat Of most severe punishment,
| to go out of doors. A few of the
| Christian women attempted to go to
market to keep themselves from starv-
| ing.
"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 villages hazarded flight
during the night. They passed the
great river by swimming, and came to
| me to tell the misfortunes.
"'Alas, writes Archbishop Gauth-
ier, from whose letter this information
is chiefly derived, L could do nothing
but weep for them, being unable to do
anything to succor them = Two or
three days afterwards I learned that
| all the men in the village had had
their heads cut off, but the wo-
men and children were spared. And,
as their houses were intermingled
with those of the pagans. it was forbid
den to burn them down."
TIL GENTLEMAN IN BLACK who is
the tutelar demon of drar,-si,ps as