THE FLOWERY KINGDOM.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXIV, Issue 2, 10 January 1901, Page 15

THE FLOWERY KINGDOM.

BITS OF CHINA OLD AND NEW.

DB. GEORGE MORRISON. Thia gentleman is the Times correspondent in Pekin whose dispatches have thrown considerable light on the situation in China. He is, by birth, an Australian, and was born in 1862. He has had a marvellously adventurous career, and in that direction greatly distinguished himself by a walk of 1900 miles across the Australian Continent, dressed as a Chinaman and without an interpreter. While exploring in New Guinea he was surprised by an ambush and wounded by a apear, the head of which was not removed from his body till some months later. Hie close acquaintance with China and the Chinese is not his least title to be regarded as the most capable correspondent in Pekin. IN THE PROVINCE OF SHANSI. The London correspondent of the Manchester Guardian reports satisfactory news as regards the safety of the Catholic missionaries in the province of Shanßi. The Catholics are very numerous in that province. The headquarters of the mission are at Hankow. There had been no troubles at Shansi up to tha end of August, and the head of the mission at Hankow was inclined to be hopeful as regards the well-being of his brother missionaries in that province, as the Governor had proved himself to be a ' good man,' though the future of the mission is described as being ' very, very dark.' AMERICA ALLEGED TO BE DISCOVERED BY THE CHINESE. It is reported that an interesting discovery has been mad c among ancient archives unearthed at Pekin. Documents, it is said' tending to prove that America waa discovered by the Chinese centuries before Columbus were found after the occupation of the Chinese capital by the allied forces. Information of the discovery is said to have been given to the State Departmentby Mah Twah Win, a Chinese student. The documents are said to record that a party of Mongolian missionaries crossed the Pacific and landed in Mexico about 499 a.d They spread the doctrines of Confucius, erected a number of temples, taught the natives many arts and crafts, thus affording an explanation of the evidenoes of Asiatic civilisation shown in the works of the Aztecs which have long puzzled antiquaries. THE SIEGE OF THE CATHOLIC CATHEDRALS. In a previous issue we gave an account of the siege of th c Catholic Cathedral, Pekin. The following narrative of event 8 during the time the Boxers had control of the city will be found interesting, and will supplement to some extent the details which have already appeared :—: — All summer the venerable Bishop Favier was desperately besieged in the Peh-tang, the North Cathedral of Pekin. The Pentang is well within the walls of the Imperial city, in its northwest quarter. It was a beautiful ohurch, surrounded by extensive grounds, where there were buildings for the shelter and occupation of many hundreds of native converts. Bishop Favier was one of the men who understood the signs of the times and made preparations. He it was who was responsible for the conversion of M. Piohon, the Minister, to a realisation of the gravity of the situation when every other Minister there was still doubtful that there would be trouble. The Bishop laid in supplies of hia own when he found he oould not move the French of the legation. He bought rifles for some of his converts and ammunition and prepared to defend himself. Then at last they got 30 French guards, with two officers and 10 Italians. This was the whole band then— Favier and two priests three nuns and 42 guards, with about 2,000 native converts huddled in the huts around the grounds. The Chinese attacked them night and day and battered the face and east wall of the beautiful Cathedral almost to pieces with their shell fire. From the north and west they oould not attack so fiercely for fear of firing over into the forbidden city just beyond.

How the graveyard grew behind the church 1 Once the Chinese exploded a mine they had laid under the corner of the lines held by the little garrison. It was a tremendous explosion and made a hole big enough to put a good-sized ship in. It killed nearly 300 of the converts, men, women and ohildren, and delivered the garrison the worst blow it had in the loss of both of its officers and three of the guards. Still they" held on so well that the Chinese could not come oVer the hole they had made ; they had breached the line, but it did them no good. Out in front of the Cathedral the Chinese mounted an old brass (Tun in the bpffinniDg which the begged promptly 8a jn e( i out and took from them. After that, whenever the Chinese fire was too heavy from the front or they were edging their barricades up too closely, the garrison would run out this old Long Tom and give them a few rounds. That always had the effect of holding them off. It was not until the morning of August 16, the day after the American fiasco at the gates, that the British decided to send a force to the relief of the French at the Cathedral. Then they found that the Japanese had done the same thing already. The small French force went along with the British detachment and did not arrive until the work had been done. There was very little fi^ht left in the Chinese. They had had enough in the last few daye and flew on the appearance of the Japanese. They were glad to ba relieved, these Frenchmen and Chinese. Ihey had had a long, hard fight of it, the real fight of Pekin, but old Bishop Favier simply smiled and said : ' Yes, they have pulled through' ' r The Tung-tang, or Eaat Cathedral, was one of the first structures destroyed, and it was clear that the Nan-tung, the South Cathedral was in danger. Pere Garrigues, the aged priest of the Tung-tang, had refused to leave his post and had perished in the names. Bu * the Fathers and Sisters at Nan-tung might yet be saved Their lives were in great peril; it was necessary to act quickly. A party of French gentlemen, led by M. Fliche, of the French Legation, accompanied by M. and Madame Chamot, rode out at night, and early the following morning safely escorted to the hotel every member of the mission— Pere d'Addveio and his two colleagues, a French Brother, five Sisters of Charity, and some twenty native nuns of the Order of St. Joseph. They were rescued just in time. Scarcely had they reached a place of safety when the splendid edifice they had forsaken was in flames. To the sky wreathed the Bmoke, a pillar of cloud marking the destruction not of a faith, but of a nation. This historic pile of great historical interest, the home of Verbiest and Schaal, with its memorial tablet given to the Cathedral by the Emperor Kang Hsi, was ruthlessly saonficed. It continued burning all the day, the region round it, the chief Catholic centre of Pekin, being also burnt Acres of houses were destroyed and the Christiana in thousands put to the sword.