A letter received by a native paper from Ichou, Shantung, states that an American missionary who had already lived in that city for about three years was on the evening of the 8th of June last, while riding out on horseback accosted by two Chinese rowdies who demanded one hundred taels from him. The missionary being but a short distance from his chapel immediately spurred his pony and escaped. But he sent two of the native Christians back to the spot to see if they could not recognise the rowdies and if possible find out. the names. Arriving there the Christians saw the two rowdies standing by a threshing floor where a boy named Sin was watching wheat lying about the place. On pering that they were watched the rowdies ran away and the Christians commenced to interrogate the boy Sun who, on the other hand, ordered them off the wheat, declaring that they were injuring it. Hereupon an altercation ensued the two Christians accusing the boy Sun of being an accomplice of the runaways. Just. then the two rowdies made a circuit of the town and getting on the main street commenced crying out the missionaries have stolen the Sun family's son and have gouged his eyes out and taken out his heart aswell!" The moment this ery went up hundreds of people echoed it and soon a mob had collected around the two native Christians who were immediately beaten, and stoned by the mob. The missionary whose name was Chi-li-pao," came to their rescue but was immediately set upon in the came way by the mob.
Fortunately it had now become quite dark and the mob fearing to hurt their own men were not so determined as might have been expected, but at any rate the missionary was pretty well beaten with clubs and stones, his head, arms, and feet being badly injured. He at last escaped but the two native Christiavs were taken by the mob to the petty military official's jamin who without going into the thing immediately sent them on to the Chehsien's yanén. The runners and soldiers of the
favour with the mob also badly treated and military yernes seeking to curry their victims, the weather being rather cold after a shower and the poor fellows being almost stark naked, their clothes ing been pulled off their backs by the mob. 'The Chehsien bolag busy, then ordered them to he incarcerated awaiting his pleasure as well as two other Christians ad written " petition to him explaining their fellow Christians' case. He also sent soldiers to the missionary's house and chapel to see whether there wore any eyes and human hearts lying promiscuously about!' The Sin fumily having hidden their son also called out for vengeance and demanded of the Chehsien their son's body. The next day the missionary, wounded as he was, appeared at the yanén demanding the release of his converts as well as the punishment of the rioters. The Chehsien then condescended to examine both his hurts and those of the two converts and at the same time the Stin's seeing no to be obtained from the riot pretended that they had found out their son and so the Chehsien released the unfortunate converts who had at first been: hadly beaten and were compelled to undergo further ill-treatment at the hands of the jamin men as well as suffer imprisonment for twenty-four hours because the Chehsien was too busy to attend to them! Moreover," says the paper, "the missionary was fortunate in finding the prefect of Ieliou to bea man thoroughly versed in foreign affairs since he sent ten soldiers to guard the mission premises ax soon xs he heard of the riot" which if precedent. is to he followed must haveheen after the notand when everything had resumed its normal quiet.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.