The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1902-03-03
CHINESE WAKING UP
REV. w. n. HOBART, OF PEKEN,
TELLS OF PROGRESS IN CE-
LESTTAIS EMPIRE
UPRISING DID MUCH GOOD
Late UnpIeasantness Has shown the
People Folly of Cherishing Fos%
SLICED Traditions OF
Antiquity.

THE Boxer uprising in China has done
more to advance the cause of Christian
ity and Western civilization in thar OK
elusive country in the short time since it
has closed than would have been accom-
plished in fifty years under the old rou-
tine way" said Rev. w T. Hobart OF
Pekin, China, in an address at the First
M. E. church last night. when the
dowager empress returned to Pekin after
! the revolution she was so ready to snow
her change of attitude toward the for
eigners that she bowed TO a company of
| newspaper reporters at the depot when
the royal party left the train. she has
since invited the wives Of the foreign
ministers to visit her in the palace, and
the indication is that she is now ready
to lend her aid to- the introduction Of
Western civilization in the exclusive en-
pire of the Orient
This change of attitude is not exclu-
siVely in the royal household but thou
sands Of the subjects are coming out and
expressing their approval Of the innova-
ton Of the progressive idea. A mission
airy =. the western part of China says
that he has sold more books and tracts
and met more anxious inquirers 1T the
mission headquarters in the last six
months than he did in the previous eight
cen years that he laOored among that
people. They now feel that they are
safe in coming out boldly in expressing
their approval of the new idea, as the
imperial household is also in sympathy
with it,
when the revolution was in existence,
| the Chinese government did all it could
to spread abroad the idea that it was
entirely an uprising among The people,
for which it was not responsible. This
was as far from the truth as it, is possible
for anything to be. The government is
sued an appropriation of $4,000 for the
support of the boxers, as well as 100000
sacks of rice for it's sustenance. When
the edict which was issued by the gov
eminent forbidding any molestation Of
the property of the foreigners, and es-
pecially with the missions, was given out,
it was shown to the missionaries with the
view of convincing them that the fire.
quent minor uprisings were not counte-
nanced by t.se government. I have infor-
nation that this edict was also accom-
panied by secret missve which had the
effect of multiplying it and leading the
people to believe that the Boxer move
ment was encouraged by the imperial
family
The attitude of the government during
! the siege of Pe1in was enough to con-
vince anyone who witnessed those scenes.
as was my lot, to conclude that the gov
eminent was back of the uprising, and
nS'o VAeI CIS4llS no power TO put 1t down.
! The German minister was shot on the
streets of the city by an officer in the
| Chinese army, and the imperial troops
! fired on the missionaries. These things
are certainly evidence of the fact that
the government was really in sympathy
with the movement to drive all foreign
ers from the country"
! Mr. Hobart was in Pekin during the
siege, and has been in ChiG;a TOR over
twenty years. His work as a missionary
mas taken him in various parts of the
DOMAIN, and his experience gives him an
opportunity to speak on Chinese condi,
uons with intelligence. He predicts a
| promising future for the country. and
| expects to see within few years a
great change in the civilization of the
| country.