19th June Tue sad news that we published yesterday morning of the almost certain massacre of the Rev. H. S. Phillips and his wife and Miss Sears and several native converts by rioters in Fukien is a terrible fulfilment of predictions made nearly four years ago when the enquiry into' the Kuchéng massacre, which occurred on the Ist of August 1895, came to such a lame and impotent conclusion. On the 16th of November 1895 our Foochow correspondent wrote that the investigation "as far as the Consuls are concerned is at an end. But all the British Government intend to do cannot be at an end, and we are anxiously waiting to see wi further will' be done, The Provincial officials will, of course, be called to account for having allowed the massacre to take place, and those who have obstructed the work of the Commissioners will be punished." "Will they?" we then asked, and_ although when Sir Nicholas O'Conor first got the news punishment of the culprits, Rich or he promised to secure the " prompt low," the prophecy of the Hongkong Daily Press correspondent, published in our columns on the 6th of September 1895, was fulfilled: "The bestowing of rewards, honours, decorations, and promotion for the instigators and authors of these and other riots. In the background a vision of further riots, massacres, and bloodshed, while Justice stands aside with broken scale and sheathed sword."
We may well recall this morning the fine sonnet by "Svastika"® published in our columns a fortnight after the Kuchéng massacre
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.