THE OPIUM QUESTION There were other causes of irritation. The French Treaty of Anti-Foreign 1860 allowed the Catholic missionaries to recover buildings which Campaign. had been wrested from them during the popular outbreaks of that period; but as many of these buildings had been converted to secular, or even to religious uses, some more than a hundred years before, the resumption caused great resentment. Moreover, the orphanages established by the sisters of mercy were completely misunderstood, and were believed by the Chinese Foreign Office to be instituted solely for the purpose of political propaganda. The disastrous result of the war with Japan also embittered the feeling between the Chinese and the foreigners. Placards issued with the purpose of stirring up hostility between the yellow and the white races warned the British, French and Americans that if in future they wished to preach their doctrines in China, they must drive the Japanese back into their own country. The worst of these documents came from the Tsungli Yamen, and the Chinese Foreign Office refused to take measures for their suppression. The opium traffic had also its share in increasing this anti- The Opium foreign odium, as it was well known that it was favoured by Question. foreigners for their own pecuniary advantage. A strong movement against the smoking of opium had recently taken place in China. One of the principal opponents of this traffic, Chang Chihtung, wrote: "Assuredly it is not foreign intercourse that is ruining China, but this dreadful poison. Opium has spread with frightful rapidity and heartrending results throughout the provinces. Millions upon millions have been struck down by the plague. The ruin of the mind is the most woeful of its many deleterious effects. The poison enfeebles the will, saps the strength of the body, renders the consumer incapable of performing his regular duties. It consumes his substance and reduces the miserable wretch to poverty, barrenness and senility. Unless something is done to arrest this awful scourge in its devastating march, the Chinese people will be transformed into satyrs and devils." Convinced by these and other opinions to a like effect, ener- Opium getic steps were taken by the Government. On September 20th, Prohibited. 1906, the following edict was issued by order of the Emperor : "Since the first prohibition of opium almost the whole of China has been flooded by the poison. Smokers of opium have wasted their time, neglected their employments, ruined their constitutions, and impoverished their households. Thus for several decades China has presented a spectacle of increasing poverty The Origin of the "Boxers." Boxer and weakness. The Court is now determined to make China powerful, and it is our duty to urge our people to reformation in this respect. We decree, therefore, that within the limit of ten years this harmful filth be fully and entirely swept away. We therefore command the Council of State to consider means for the strict prohibition both of opium smoking and of poppy growing." There is much to be said for the exclusive attitude of the Chinese against foreigners. The Chinese Empire is self-sufficing, containing within its bounds everything it requires for itself. If foreigners insist upon being admitted to China for their own purposes they are bound to submit to its laws. Even in the later 'eighties outrages against foreigners had taken place in the valley of the Yang-tsze-Kiang; at Chin-kiang the British consulate was burned to the ground, and similar outrages took place in the west and north. The defeat of China by Japan impressed some statesmen with the imperative necessity of reforming the Empire. But the reactionary party at Peking had recourse to the Dowager Empress, and begged her to resume the reins of power. Therefore, in 1898, she ordered the Emperor to surrender his power into her hands, reversed his edicts, and commanded the punishment of his friends. This increased the hostility to the foreigners, and in many places the Christians were assaulted. But the most remarkable result was the emergence of a secret society, known in Europe as the "Boxers," in China as the Ino Chuan, or the "Patriotic Harmonious Fists." This society received vigorous Imperial support: "The Powers cast looks of tiger-like voracity on the Empire; to resist this, Viceroys and Governors should act together without distinction of jurisdiction; the word 'peace' should be banished from their lips; they should preserve the homes and the graves of their ancestors from desecration at the hands of the invader." The Dowager Empress was the soul of this encouragement. The foreign Ministers besought the Tsungli Yamen to suppress the Boxer movement, and were told that everything was being done to effect this, and that a large army was at hand for the purpose under the command of Tung Fuhsiang. But he really took the other side, and when he arrived matters became worse, three British officers being pelted with stones by his soldiers in October, 1899. The Boxers now drilled openly and threatened foreigners and their native servants. Throughout winter matters continued in a very grave condition. Christians were massacred and burnt in the neighbourhood of Peking, and the Boxers THE LEGATIONS BESIEGED destroyed the railway and tore up the track not far from the capital. The foreign representatives were obliged to send to the ships Fighting at stationed at Taku for additional guards, and the Legations were Tientsin protected by 340 men. Prince Tuan, a professed supporter of and Peking. the Boxers, became President of the Tsungli Yamen, and the Legations could no longer be considered safe. The Boxers now reckoned themselves strong enough to take active steps, and the Legations called on the admirals for protection. On June 10th Admiral Seymour marched from Tientsin with a force of 2,000 men. At Antung he found the railway line destroyed and a large body of Boxers in position. After staying there some days he discovered the railway cut behind him, and determined to retire to Tientsin by water. On June 22nd he seized the Chinese arsenal, finding in it large stores of rice and ammunition, and with some difficulty returned to Tientsin on June 26th. The Boxers being joined by the Imperial troops, the Legations at Peking and the foreign settlements at Tientsin were besieged, and but for the opportune arrival of 1,700 Russian troops a catastrophe would have taken place. The foreigners at Tientsin were in a hopeless plight; they had few works of defence, and their communications with the Taku forts were cut off. On June 15th the Boxers, who had sixty guns at their disposal, bombarded the foreign settlements at Tientsin from the walls of the native city. Not until June 24th could a relieving force arrive, but with this the allied commanders were able to act, though the bombardment did not take place until July 13th. On the following day the city was occupied by the allied forces, whose next business was to relieve the Legations at Peking. This was done by a column drawn from the whole of the allied armies. On the night of August 13th the Russians began an attack on the city wall of the capital, and, asking for reinforcements, these were supplied by the Japanese. The Legations had been besieged for eight weeks. On June Relief 20th Baron von Ketteler, the German Minister, had been shot of the dead a few hundred yards from his Legation, as he was riding Legations. out to pay a visit to the Tsungli Yamen. Peace was no longer possible, and foreigners of all nationalities retired to their Legations; the British Legation, being the largest, accommodated the largest number of fugitives. On the arrival of the relieving columns the Chinese made only a faint-hearted resistance. The Dowager Empress, with the Emperor and the Court, fled to Li-an-fu, the capital of the province of Shensi. Prince Ching and Russian at Blago- Li Hung Chang being given full powers to arrange terms, it was decided that the officials connected with the Boxer movement should be punished, an indemnity paid, the Taku forts dismantled, the importation of arms prohibited, the Tsungli Yamen abolished, and a rational system of intercourse with the Emperor established. In pursuance of these terms, Princes Tuang and Tsailan were sentenced to death, three high officials were condemned to commit suicide, and three mandarins were beheaded. Prince Chun proceeded to Berlin to apologise for the murder of Ketteler, and the indemnity was fixed at about £10,000,000. The conditions of peace were signed on September 7th, 1901. Two months later Li Hung Chang, the most powerful statesman whom China at that time possessed, died after a short illness. The movement of the Boxers, which meant the regeneration of the fighting power of China, was viewed with great suspicion by the Russian Government, which feared they would endeavour to recover some of the territory which China had lost in Manchuria. The town of Blagovestchensk, on the Amur, had grown very rapidly, and a small force of Russians was face to face with a large Chinese population. The Governor, Chichegov, afraid of what might occur, commanded all the Chinese to cross to the south side of the river, and, when they hesitated to obey, the soldiers were ordered to drive them over at the point of the bayonet. The result of this atrocity was that 4,500 people were drowned in the stream, a barbarous outrage on the Mongols which was soon to be avenged. CHAPTER XVI THE BOER WAR THE Cape of Good Hope was so named by John II. of Portugal, The Dutch who hoped it might prove a place of call on a new and easier at the Cape. route to India. In 1620 Captain Fitzherbert claimed it as British territory, but did nothing to secure its possession, so that in 1652 the Dutch East India Company were able to occupy it in order to assist their trade with India. The Dutch did everything to keep the Cape to themselves and exclude other nations from it. They deposed Governor Quellbergen with dishonour because he showed friendliness to a French ship. The Company forbade all commerce, and the farmers were required to sell their produce to them alone at prices they fixed. Taxes and tithes were oppressive, all settlers holding their position on sufferance and being thus liable to expulsion at any moment. The French Huguenots, who came to the Cape in 1690 and formed the most valuable part of the population, were forbidden to employ their language in public affairs, and found the oppression of the Dutch Governor just as irksome as that of Louis XIV., from which they had escaped. At the same time the Government was thoroughly corrupt, and all complaints were punishable by death. The colonists possessed freedom only in name, and their condition was such that they would have welcomed at any moment the arrival of a British fleet to rescue them from an intolerable tyranny. From this discontent arose the system of treks, or wholesale How the migrations, which have since been so characteristic of the Boer Cape became community. In 1795 there was a revolution and the districts of British. Graaf Reinet and Swellendam declared their independence. In the same year the Prince of Orange was driven out of Holland by the French and fled to England. Having urged the British Government to occupy Cape Colony in order to save it from the French, Admiral Elphinstone was sent to the Cape with a letter from the Prince recommending its surrender. This was arranged, and the British were welcomed as liberators; but in the Peace of Amiens in 1802 the Colony was restored to Holland. During the years 1803 to 1806 the Batavian Republic gave rise to no |