Clinch Valley news. [volume] (Jeffersonville, Va.) 18??-2019, 1900-07-06
Interview With a Boxer.

gentleman who has for many years
belonged to the Boxers society in
China, and with whom a represen.
tative If the Express has had most
interesting interview. 1t is aston
ishing how much this terrible Boxer
had to say for himself and his asso-
ciates.
"You English he observed, speak
ing our language with remarkable
huency, "only look at Chinese mat
ter from your own point of view.
Oh, if you could only look at them
from ours! Western civilization is
to US mere mushroom. 1t is
thing of yesterday. Chinese civili-
zation is unnumbered thousands OF
years old. We consider ourselves at
least 1000 years ahead of you.
"There was a time when eve had,
like you, our struggle for life, our
race for wealth, our ambition for
power, our hast and hurry and wor-
ry. We, too, had your clever inven-
tions-gunpowder, printing aud the
resi-but we have lived long enough
to find out how essentially un-
necessary all these things are. We
have also had our periods of doubt,
tanatlcism and dissension in matters
of relisoion. We had our martyrs
our reformations, our non-conform-
lists, our intolerance. and finally, our
toleration. Yes, thousands Of years
ago.
"But, as say. we have outgrowh
it all. From the experience of past
centuries we have learned wisdom;
from the mistakes and the disasters
of our ancestors we have learned
that none of the things for which we
strove were really worth striving for
Our passions and ambitions have
settled down into n calm desire for
happiness in this world; our religion
is reduced to philosophy OF life
which the test OF the last 1000 years
have proved to be absolutely sound.
'Now, these being our circum-
stances, you of the western world
come to us with what you call new
ideas. You bring us your religion,
an infant of ninteen hundred years.
You invite us to build railways so
that we may fly from place to place
at a speed which for as has neither
necessity nor charm. You want to
build mills and factories so as to ce.
base our beautiful arts and crafts.
and produce tawdy finery in place of
the beautiful textures and hues
which we have evolved after ages OF
experiment.
Against all tins we protest We
want to be let alone. We want to
he free To enjoy our beautiful coun-
try and the fruits of our centuries of
experience When We ask you to go
away you refuse, and you even threat
ell us if we do not give YOU our har.
bors. our lands, our town.
"And. now, having carefully con
sidered the matter, we of.the social
ed Boxers Society have decided that
the only way to get rid OF you is to
kill you.
"Consider your missionaries.
They come as l have said, with q
new religion, upon the main priciples
OF which they are bitterly divided
among themselves. They tell us
that unless we cccept their doctrines
we shall suffer eternal punishment.
They frighten our children and the
more weak-minded OF our older peo.
pie. and create all kinds OF dissen-
sions between families and individ-
uals. No wonder that we will not
tolerate them.
'AN OUTRAGE
off we wanted your railways aud
machines we could, of course, buy
them; but we do not. We have no
use for them. We have learned to
do without them, whether we will or
not. Is that just? say it is an i'm
pertinence-an outrage. A good
deal is made of the fact that we are
not soldiers. Well, we have ceased
to be soldiers because we have b.
come civilized. War is a barbarism.
The effect of our having arrived at
our present stage of civilization is
that we have increased and multipli.
ed beyond every other race on the