2nd April.
SINCE we wrote on this subject on the 15th ult, more light has been thrown on iv from various sources. Tt will be remembered that the first news that reached Shanghai was in the form of rather vague telegrams from Nanchang to the native papers here, stating that a Chinese magis-tate had been attacked by a French priest, These telegrams were evidently intended to; prepare the way for the news that was to come; and we learn now that they were not sent by the correspondents of the papers which published them, but cams direct from the Governor's yamen, On the faith of these telegrams practically all the native Papers at first regarded Pere Tacruche as the aggressor, but two oftthem as soon as they got telegrams from their own correspondent, recognised that the magistrate Chiang committed suicide, and have adhered to that view, The line taken by the ""Nanfangpao" is explained by General Mesny's letter the proprietors of that paper are Kiangsi men, and it is, in fact, a Kiangsi organ. While two of the native papers admit, as we have sid, that the magistrate committed suicide, they hold that he was driven todo it by the obduracy of Pire Lacruche. "Ib is quite safe to assume, however, that the magistrate, who was in financial difficulties, had made up his mind to commit suicide because he had made promises to Pere Lacruche and to the Chinese which were inconsistent with each other and which he could not possibly perform, By committing, suicide, he saved his own "face before his countrymen, and avenged himeelf on the Roman Catholic Mission, That he did commit suicide, whatever his motive, is established by the post-mortem examinations made, and it is evi ent from the photograph of the dead magistrate published in the active papers here, Outbreaks of the Chinese like that Nanchang are generally the resalt ofa sudden aces of fury, tut there was full deliberation in the Nanchang case, more than two days elapsing between the magistrate's attempt on. his life, and the massacre itself, There was thus plenty of time for the missionaries Wwescape, but they all seem to have remained at their posts. The most unaccountable incident in the affair isthe behaviour of the five Marist Brothers, Here were five able-bodied men, with no women or children to took after, who knew The W.-C. Herald and &. C. & C. Gazette there was an infuriated mob coming towards them, thirsting for their blood, They reached the river in safely, and got into a boat, but because the boatman refused to take them, they went back to the shore and landed, and allowed themselves to be killed, without even wounding one of their assail ants, The story seems incredible, but it appears to be well-established. This was carrying the doctrine of non-resistance too far, There will be no trouble in settling the British claim for the destruction of life and property at Nanchang, the Chinese allowing that the Kinghuns had given no provocation of any kind. But we understand that the Chinese adhere to their opinion that some provocation was given by the Roman Catho-lies, provocation which, if it existed aboli, could nob justify in the least the outrages committed. According to the native papers, very heavy demands have been made by the French representative at Nanchang. Choy include, of cause, the punishment of the ringleaders of the riot, and of the officials who did nob prevent it when the American missionaries warned the Nanchang Foreign Office; an official statement that the magistrate committed suicide, and was not wounded by Pre Lacruche; the erection of a monument; the payment of an indemnity of some five hundred thousand taels; and the payment of an annual contribution of Ts. 10,000 10 the R. C. Mission. We may take it that these claim: are very much exaggerated. Whatever it may cost to replace the buildings destroyed, China should
pensation to those, if any, who undoubtedly Ds with some com-were dependent. on the murdered priests and teachers; but to exact:
annuity of Tis, 10,000 for the maintenance of the mission would be contrary to the whole spirit of missions. From what we gather, the use of more conciliatory methods by the missionaries i Kiangsi would have prevent occurrence of the massacre and the extension of a very strong antiforeign feeling in the province. But nothing excuses the massacre itself, and the criminal apathy, if not complicity, of the local officials.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.