Saturday press. [volume] (Honolulu, H.I.) 1880-1885, 1884-05-10

gous missions there. In the language OF one
of the missionaries in the field, the evil,
humanity speaking, Is quite out Of our hands
God alone can save the country from this
terrible curse
As to the almost imprcgnable barrier which
the opium traffic and the Infamous manner in
whirh it has been conducted, have created in
the Chinese mind words are inadequate to de
scribe its magnitude.
1t has been with truth remarked, that this
vile traffic speaks more cloquently and CON
vincingy to the people o. China asi-15f Chris.
tianity than the missionary can possibly do
in its favor Missionaries there are con
iinually assailrd with contemptuous language
and repro1ches from the heather whom they
address regarding the doctrines Of tho Bible.
GLOW can YOU say they, "dare to set your.
selve, up rs teachers OF virtue, when you are
all the time bringing opium to our country and
poisoning our people' '
The Chinese, unfortunately, associate for
eigners Of every race and occupation with the
nefariuus traffic, and the cpithet "foreign
devil, is applied to the missionary as well
as to merchants and traders in nearly all parts
Of the empire. Missionaries travelling in the
interior have indeed been registered at the inns
where they lodged by the same respectful ap.
pellation- their real names and occupation not
being inquired after.
That the Chinese have abundant cause foI
this feeling Of dislike and contempt no one car
deny. Every argument which would avail in
respect to having intoxicating liquor forced into
the United Safes, or these islands, in defiance
Of the government, and Of those who have the
welfare of the nation at heart. applies with ten
| fold more force TO the opium question. A
| food OF poison is devastating the towns and
cities Of China more terribly than would {
torrent of fiery lava surging through oui
streets, and yet every attempt on the part o
| the government TO turn aside the flood Of
check its frightiul progress has been thwartct
and foiled by the remorscless cmissaries o
Christian England.
| 1t is a matter Of history that something
more than a century ago, when the East lndis
| Company was taking the initiatory steps to
wards smuggling opium poison into China thu
native authorities used all possible means i'
prevent the influx Of the banelul commodity
It's importation was forbidden on the scvcres
penalties-thc opium which first arrived wa
seized and burned, the vessel in which it wa
brought was confscated, and the Chnaman il
whose possession il was found was put t.
death. Twenty years later, the government
shocked at discovering what havoc the contin
ual adven, Of the drug was making in tn
homes of the people interdicted the trade in
formal protest This being Of no avail NOR
stringent measures were subsequently adopted
the government denouncing the traders, an'
branding them with the shame and tremendou
responsibility of having introduced the fata
habit Of opium. smoking into the country. Thi
allegation was not unfounded, for it is state'
on good authority that "prior to the tim
when the English of India sent the first carg
Of the poison to China the use Of the dru
) was so in6nilesimal as compared with its afte
development that it may be said to hav
scarcely existed F"
The smuggling trade which was enrchin
England at the rate of ten millions OF dollar
annually, while it was impoverishing and de
moralizing the Chinese to the very utmos
went on for sixty long years, eliminating {
, last in the first opium war, when, as the histC
Ran has it, Notwithstanding the immense 10.
| ..E ,l., pT china N
the payment of an indemnity Of Sal 200, 90
to England for the destruction Of opium smu.
eled into the country, the government sti
stoutly refused to legalize the Infamous traffic.
, ton trying to grapple with monstrous soci
evil, which is fast eating out its strength, an
Christian nation, at every crisis in the col
test, using all possible means 10 intensity Il
= struggle and aggravate the terrible evil. An
all for greed Of gain! /, was not until SCI
ond opium war had desolated the land, an
u, the ruthless English soldiery had pillaged II
Emperor's palace, conquering and humblm
the Chinese on every side, that the conilic,
one hundred years came to an end, and Il
treaty was agreed upon which admitted opiu
into the empire on tariff rules. This trea
= was signed, however, by the Chinese Cover
{ ment with the greatest repngnance, and with
e spirit of the most bitter hatred and defiance t
l. ward the nation which had forced it from ther
J. The intervening years from that time to d
present, almost quarter of century, ha
T. availed little in allaying this feeling Of host
: ity, and il is hardly to be wondered at, III
y foreigners, and foreign innovations of all kin
u are still execrated by the mass Of the Chine
" nation, or that missionaries together with I
religion they bring, should be reviled and co
r temned in every quarter. Nothing apparent
Il can ever eradicate from the Chinese mind Il
l. persistent hatred Of foreigners and foreign d
d vices--nothing can, as has been said, effa
lie "the dark stain on England's fair fame, an
+" by implication, on Christianity, which this d
&c graceful traffic has caused" So intense is Il
d feeling Of distrust and dislike, even at the pr,
u ent day, that the missionaries OF China ha
y been led to declare that, "if it were possil
l. for England to say that she regretted the pa
&c and would bring opium no more, Christiani
N could afford to meet, with serene courage Al
J. confident hope, every other obstacle viii
d idolatry superstition, ignorance, and sin, co
& bined, could array against it,"
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Mr.. Charles Ilasselman has just complete