The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1900-06-23

Heart has received. a circular letter, writ
ten in the French language. from the
French Catholic missionaries IN North
China which gives an interesting account
of the attacks Of the Boxers on the mis-
siola ries. Father Lamb would only make
portions Of the letter public to-day, because,
he said he did not feel at liberty to
give It out FOR publication in its entirety.
The letter bore the date of April 26, and was
mailed at Kiang-Nang. The missionary at
thar point wrote that the Boxers had shown
great activity in four or five Provinces and
had attacked the Catholic communities sew
sral times.
The Catholics were well armed" the mis-
sionary writes and resisted the attack and
drove of the Boxers There We're very few
fatalities on the part Of the Christians. The
loss of paSans has been considerable. In
one engagement, that Of Yu-Chang, the
Boxers left thirty dead on the field At
the episcopal residence of Hien-Hien, in the
southeastern part Of Pe-Chi-Li Province.
the Boxers made a bloody assault.
In TIen-Tsin It is generally believed that
the Boxers intend to make a combined as
sault on the concessions The Boxers wish
rather 10 set fire to the quarters so as to
rob the places in the confusion which may
arise. In the anticipation of such attack d
corps of French volunteers has been or
ganized'
From Tchang- -Kia-Tchoang a missionary
writes under date of March /. With regard
to the movement OF Boxers in that vicinity:
The most interesting item is the defense
made by our neighbors of Tong-To-kowo
against the Boxers. About 500 Of these rob-
hers attacked the houses of the Christians
there. The Christians. although few in
number made brave defense. The battle
lasted an hour and half, and the arrival
Of the soldiers put the briEands TO flight.
The Boxers lost at least thirty killed and
a large number were wounded. many Of
whom died the next day"
'It was truly edifyins to see the spirit
of faith with which our Christians acted.
Before the attack they kneit in prayer.
and even, during the tumult, they might
be heard invoking the aid OF the holy vir-
gin.
AT present there Is a CAIN, which, how
ever we do not expect to be Of long dura-
ton. The rebels have again begun their
reunions in the North, and We know for
certain that they have patrons among the
high officials of the Empire. The greater
par. OF the Christians have shown
marked increase in fervor, g. large numoer
of those who have been robbed or tortured
preferrins to lose all property rather than
TO recant.
..In one instance. a native Christian, Iso-
RI. whom the Boxers hoped to win over
to their cause on account OF his past
fr,endl,ness to them, refused to yield. HIS
ears were cut, and he was submitted TO
torture for four days before he escaped
THE Vlceroy Of Pe-Chi-Li has. issued a
decree, calling on Christians and nonchris-
tians to live in peace, but II has hau no
effect The asssssins Of the Reverend Mr.
brooks. a Presbyterian missionary. have
| been condemned TO various kinds Of pun
tsbnent. One of the assassins is to be be
headed one is TO be strangied. third Is
| condemned to life Imprisonment, and six
others are to suffer lighter punishment"