harged with being under the influence of foreigners and
employed by them to distribute poison.

"Even at the Amoy hospital, which has been in existence nearly thirty
years, the number of patients greatly decreased; some days there were
almost none."

In the large cities of Tong-an and Chinchew placards were posted in great
numbers. They averred that black and red pills were being sold by the
agents of foreigners under presence of curing disease and saving the world.

Instead they were causes of terrible diseases which none but the foreign
dogs or their agents could cure. And to get cured, one must join the
foreign religion or else give great sums. It was asserted that all this
poison emanated from the foreign chapels, was often thrown into wells, and
secretly put into fish or other food in the markets.

A preacher, sixty miles from Foochow, one hundred and fifty miles north of
Amoy, barely escaped with his life. He was pounded with stones while the
bystanders called out, "Kill the poisoner, the foreign devils' poisoner!"

The whole object of this diabolical calumniating was to kindle the people
into a frenzy against foreigners, especially missionaries, and to make
foreign powers believe that the people are so anti-foreign that the
authorities cannot secure a foreigner's safety outside of the treaty ports.

Even when these reports were traveling like wildfire there were those among
the Chinese who knew better, and it was often said, "It cannot be the
missionaries and native Christians, for have they not been going in and out
among us all these years and they never did us any harm?"

Speaking of the "Political State of the Country," Dr. Talmage says:

"With the atrocities committed at Tientsin the world is acquainted, though
many seem still to be under the grievous error that these atrocities were
designed only against Romanism and the French nation.

"If this were the fact, it would be no justification. Others are under an
error equally grievous, that the Chinese Government has given reasonable
redress. It has given no proper redress at all. Instead of reprobating
the massacre, it has almost, and doubtless to the ideas of the Chinese,
fully sanctioned it. The leaders in the massacre have not been brought to
justice. The Government has readily given life for life--a very easy
matter in China--but it has so highly rewarded the families of the victims
thus sacrificed to placate the barbarians, and put so much honor o