The Washington herald., 1910-06-26
SHALL MISSIONARIES GO ARMED?
This the Right Suicide Escape Torture Are Problems Inviting
the Attention of Edinburoh Missionary Congress-

But IL he has warm, generous blood IN
his veins, If he is a manly man. he VIII
not hesitate about forcing his dear ones
to commit suicide, or. failing that. to
Kill them himself. rather than to permit
/ them 20 be subjected to the unspeakaEle
tortures Of the Chinese.
Incidentally, It is very fortunate that
these problems should have been placed
upon the programme OF discussion at the
World Missionary Congress OF the past
week at Edinburgh. For. according 10
the most authoritative reports from
Ching, the Celestial Empire Is on the eve
Of mother great anti-foreign rising, or
far greater Importance than that OF ter
years ago. Indeed, so serious is the sit
uation regarded IN this respect, that for
eigners are leaving Nankin and all the
neighboring districts in shoals. in defer
ence to the warnings OF their diplomatic
and consular representatives. and Of their
native friends.
Few are aware that the late Emperor
Alexander II OF Russia. who was q
deeply religious man. always took the
ground that people have a perfect right
10 take their own lives TO escape suffer-
Ing. He always stoutly asserted that
there was not a single word In the whole
Bible, from Genesis TO Revelations, which
can be taken TO imply that suicide is for
hidden, and he alleged that as self-de-
struction was common practice among
the ancients. IL IT were against the will
Of God, ne would assuredly have con-
demned It. either through Moses. or
through Christ
Alexander even went further than this.
q
demning suicide can be found in the
Bible. texts can easily be discovered that
when the burden becomes too heavy Tor
our shoulders we are justified in laying
1t down. and in illustration of this he
would often quote the verse: IF they
prosecute you in one city, fee TO an
other"
The late Car interpreted this to mean
that If one found life uncomfortable on
earth, one had a perfect right to ride
on on pistol bullet, dagger. or poison
capsule. 10 some other sphere Alexan-
der. it must be remembered, was not only
the Emperor of Russia, but also the su-
preme pontiff Of the Orthodox Church OF
Russia, and would assuredIy never have
given utterance &c such opinions had he
not been fully convinced in his own
mind Of the truth of his arguments.
Accustomed, like so many others who
make their home in the civilized and law
abiding countries OF. the Occident, to re-
gard martyrdom as pertaining TO history,
and as having no place in the nineteenth
century. 1t was not until my first trip
out 10 China, in 1874, that I was brouSht.
for the first time, face to face with tine
fact that the sufferings of which we read
as having been undergone for the sake
OF Christianity, are not mere fairy tales
and picturesque exaggerations, designed
to I'LL the Golfers of the various mission
cry societies. but are. on the contrary.
grim realities.
Our snip. the old Anadyr, which now
Hes al the bottom of the Red Sea had
on board a number of priests. monks.
and Sisters of Mercy. bound from Mar
settles TO China. to take the places of
those who had been put to death in such
an appalling fashion at the time Of the
frightful Tien-tsin massacre, two or three
years previously.
When we arrived at Saigon. the CAPITAL
Of French Cochin China, there was car
ried on board. in a dying condition. a
young French priest. whose hair and
beard, in spite OF his twenty-seven years
was snow white. whose eyes were sight
'SSSs N4AoSe MINUS anu ISeL were SWdfhed
in bandages. and whose face bore traces
OF such physical agony undergone. that.
even after all these years. it still haunts
my memory.
His labors as & missionary had taken
him TO the vicinity of the Chinese border,
and there he had been seized and shut IN
for the space Of two years In a wooden
cage. in which he could neither lie down
nor sit up. and where, in addition 10
having his eyes burned out and big
wooden wedges pressed between his
toes and fingers, he was subjected 10
other tortures of so frightful character
that while they can be left 10 the imag-
ination they cannot be described
Yet his tormentors were careful always
to stop their devilish contrivances when
ever there seemed to be any danger of his
life slipping through their hands They
prolonged his existence with the idea of
prolonsing the torture, and the only
amazing thing about the matter is that
he should have retained his mind. But
he was perfectly sane when carried on
board at Saigon, after his rescue and lib
GRAFTON, and was able TO speak TO NE dur
ing the trip up TO Hongkong, and I was
by his bedside when he breathed his last.
just as we were entering port