The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1900-08-05
ASSASSINATION OF ENJOYS.
Historical Instances Where AmDns-
sailors Have Been Murderad


sadOrs Have Been Murdered
The excitement of the past month that
mas ag1tated this country and Europe
concerning the foreign ministers and at
taches at Pekin, recalls the fact that
from the most ancient times the person
OF an ambassador or minister has been
held inviolabIe-the privilege being en-
tended to all the personnel of his lega-
tloni so that when friendly relations are
severed between his government and the
=one to which he is accredited he ts
given passports to insure his safety until
ne Shall have passed from the limits of
the country 2s5F
Even to insult an ambassador. has al
ways been regarded as a most serious
international offense, Alexander the Great
destroying the city of Troy on that ac-
count,
So strong, indeed, is the protection ac-
corded to an envoy at all times, that
there are but few instances of the actual
completely of a government being traced
TO outrages upon his security.
Chief among such, however, was the
| murder of DR.. Donislaus, the Briusn min
| lister to Holland In 1913; that Of the
French ENJOYS to Austria in .i9g, and in
| this century of the British envoys at
Kabul in 1S41 and 1878 respectively.
The assassination Of Dr. Donislaus was
due principally to his connections with
the trial of King Charles, as one of the
| parliamentary counsel. A number Of
English royalists had sought refuge at
The Hague, and on the day after the
Doctors arrival succeeded in dealing HIM
fatal blow. In this case tile uhinly
yelled sympathy of the reigning stadthod-
er protected the murderers from arrest
and punishment, though the crime was
regarded by other princes as even great
er than the execution of King Charles
The assassination of the French ENJOYS
at Bastadt in 1899 was of a particularly
treacherous character. War had been
declared between France and Austria
but the three French plenipotentiaries Ie-
manned at their post, relying upon the
| protection Of their Office On the night
| of April Is they were suddenly ordered
to leave Bastadt and had gone but q
| short distance when they were amlUsGed
! by a regiment of Austrian hussars NM
BONNER and Robergeol were instantly
killed, but the third, Jean DERRY, though
wounded, succeeded in making his escape
I back to the city.
! Perhaps the nearest parallel to the pes
ent tragedy at Pekin was that of the mas
sacre of Sir William Macnaghten and his
| companions at Kabul in 1S41. The British
envoy and two officers of his household
having lured him. unarmed, to the palace
| ard were there Iuthl II butcher by the
Ameers son. The story of the subsequent
retreat of the $500 British troops, of whom
| 500 were Europeans, and IL COO camp fol-
lowers, is one of the most terrible in his
| tory. Among the snow covered passes they
were encompassed on all sides and at
tackled at every step by fanatical hordes
| of Afghans. OF that army only one
wretched Individual, DR.. Brydone. crawled
into Jalalabad to tell Of the horror of that
march.
Again, on Sept 8, 1878, Kabul was the
scene of the assassination of another Brit
ish envoy. Sir Lewis Cavagnari, after
| holding out for several days in the resi-
I deney against the Ameer's revoEed troops
was compelled, by the firing of the build
| ings, to sally forth and perish with his
! companions. 1t was to avenge this out
| rage that Lord Roberts made his famous
march to Kabul and Kandahar
The last serious attack upon the life OF
an envoy was that of a Japanese fanatic
upon Ii Hung Chang at the close Of the
| Japan-Chinese war.
The manner in which the Japanese gov
eminent swiftly visited punishment upon
| tie perp traitor, AID the ample sat.sfa to-
| offered to the Chinese minister, in a large
measure emphasized the claim that the
japanese are to be considered one of the
| civilized powers.