New Iberia enterprise. (New Iberia, La.) 1885-1902, 1898-09-17
BLOODIEST OF WARS.

And now | must indulge in a little
ancient history, which, however, has q
highly pertinent present day moral. The
langTse ha, bloody memories. You can
not steam up its waters without being re
men who are not vet old, it was, to
use Macbeth's words. ''incarnadined'
with slaughter. This was the theater of
the Tai Ping rebellion. That vast uprising
ragged from Canton to Tien-Tsin, but its
worst horrors were here. Few persons, |
think, have realized the fact that no single
event in the history of the human race in
volved such loss of life, II memory does
not mislead me, Mr.. Burke in his ironical
defense of Natural Society" calculated
that in all the wars of historic Europe
1000, 600 human beings had persisted. Mr.
Forrest, who was her majesty consul at
Ningpo during the Tai-Ping rebellion,
reckoned that it had cost 81 OO0. 900 lives
The French revolution with its 10000, or
at most 20, 900 victims, was rs nothing to
it the butcheries of Caesar, Tamorlane,
and Napoleon bore no comparison.
TWENTY MILLION VICTIMS.
The first estimate that met placed the
total at 90, 000, 900. This seemed to me so
extraordinary as to be incredible, and
took some pains to ascertain the opinions
of men who were living in this region at
the time. DR.. Griffith John of Ian Kow.
the translator of the New Testament into
Chinese, and man who is universally
respected, assured me that, Judging from
his own personal observations, he did not
deem the total mentioned excessive I'm
1860, when the movement had been in full
progress for nine years, DR.. John went to
see the leader of it, who called himself
Tien Wang, Heavenly King. In going to
Soo-Tchow up the Grand canal, 1.-THE
boats,' he SAYS, ''had to be pushed
through heaps of dead bodies, many of the
victims having been killed by the insur-
gents, but probably a still larger number
Of men, women and children who had com
mitted suicide to escape their fury Not
only the Yang-Tse and its tributaries, but
every lake, pond, and well was crowded
with the corpses of fugitives from the bru
tai license and barbarity of the Tai Pings.
Tens of thousands of square miles in
these central provinces were depopulated.
For thirteen years bands of thieves and
rebels wandered unmolested over the
and huddled in the ruins Of de
homes. To this day the land has
not recovered its former prosperity.
The leader of the revolt was a poor Vi |
siOnary named Hung tsiu- tsuen, born near
Canton, and was educated more or less
ut Protestant missionary school. There
ne fell in with a Rev. lssacher Roberts, |
who seems, unfortunately, to have been
nearly us visionary as his pupil.
OBJECT OF THE REBELLION.
The obje of the rebellion was to over
,hrOw the Manchns, and it's chief secured
4 certain amount of outside sympathy by
himself in favor of Christianity
and of foreigners. Success turned his
Drain. He called himself the brother of
Jesus Christ, published any number of
theological proclamations, and was going
% establish righteousness and the great
Deace. 1t was marvellous how any per
,ons could have been mislead as to the
'eal character of the fanatics, for, while
he words of the Bible were never out of
heir mouths, their whole campaign was
,ne of rapine lust and murder.