The age-herald., 1900-07-08
SEVEN YEARS
 NEAR THE BOXERS

From the New York Journal.
 The Rev. F. N. Royall, who wrote the
 following, is a recently returned mission
 ary from China:
 have lived seven years in the province
 of Shan Tung, the home of the "BoXers'
 I was a personal friend of the Rev. MT.
 Brooks of the Church of England, whose
 murder by the Boxers has resulted ln the revolt in the northern provinces or China, and the movement of the organized desperadoes on Pekin Soldiers and ma
 rines have been sent to the capital to guard the foreign legations.
 | I narrowly escaped being a victim of the savage Boxers" I was about to start on a journey in the interior when warned by a member of the Great Knife Society not to go.
 The hatred of the Boxers was at first
 directed against the Catholic missionaries,
 but in short time it included all foreign
 devils,' as they call foreigners. shortly
 before l left the Shan Tung province, on
 my way back to America, we heard of white man, a minister of the Church of England, having been captured and of his subsequent escape from the BoXers. When we were leaving Shanghai news came that the desperadoes had attacked Catholic village in the province of Chi Lii and had been repulsed with consdera- be loss.
 My residence was at Chi Ming Chow, and from there I made trips alone hundreds
 of miles. We all dressed in Chinese fash
 ion to conciliate the Chinese and so make
 them converts more readily. When l hrst
 reached Shanghai and met an English gen.
 tleman with his beard shaved and a queue
 down his back thought it would be great
 many years before l would make such a
 fool of myself. But year later l was
 there, clothes, queue, shaved and all.
 The reign of terror was inaugurated by
 the Big Knife Society last summer. About a thousand of them were gathered in our village. Who they were it was impossible to learn, for the villagers dared not expose them, fearing for their own safety. We were told that they had come to destroy the Catholic cathedral in the village. A boat flying the Catholic nag-that is, l flag with cross on it-was seen on the river just outside the city, and in a few l days it disappeared. This gave rise to a rumor that the Catholics had all flown. On top of this came another story to the effect that the Catholics were in the Ca l thedrai, ali armed to the teeth Whether this was right or not, the attack on the church was never made, and it later de- l veloped that the Catholics had not left the city. It was at this time that I first heard of the proximity of the 'BoXers.' One night after l had held open air services, a Chi nese man came to me and said: May not see you at your home?" l replied in the af- firmative, and he piled me with questions about my teachings. Your doctrine is diff ferent from that of the Catholics" he said. He visited me steadily for about a week, then one night he said
 You are going visit to the interior. Do not go. The Boxers are up in arms in great numbers. They have sworn to ex- terminate the Catholics. While they do not desire to harm you and your kind, they will not be able to distinguish you from the others, and may kill you"
 l did not make the trip just then, and shortly after a proclamation was issued or dering all men to return to their homes, and my friend disappeared.
 Afterward l met him in his own village
 and he received me most cordially. It was
 known that in this place many resided who
 were secretly in league with the robber
 bands.
 The action against the Catholic mission