Noble Deeds of the World's HeroinesMoore, Henry Charles
History
Noble Deeds of the World's Heroines
Moore, Henry Charles
Women heroes -- Biography
The Chinese dislike to foreigners settling in their country is so old
that one cannot tell when it began. But in 1900 the Boxer rising
proved that the anti-foreign feeling is strong as ever, and perhaps
more unreasonable, and the whole civilized world was horror-stricken by
the news of the massacre of men, women and children, who had been
slaughtered, not only because they were Christians, but because they
were foreigners.
The list of missionaries who were murdered by the Boxers in 1900 is
long and saddening; but it is some consolation to know that to many of
the martyrs death came swiftly, and was not preceded by bodily torture.
In fact, some of the missionaries who escaped death must have been
sorely tempted to envy their martyred colleagues, so terrible were the
trials they underwent before reaching a place of safety.
Mrs. Ogren was one of the representatives of the China Inland Mission,
who escaped death only to meet perils and privations such as few women
have ever survived. She and her husband had worked in China for seven
years, and had been stationed for about twelve months in the city of
Yung-ning when the Boxer troubles began. Until then the natives had
been well disposed towards them, but two emissaries of the Boxers,
describing themselves as merchants, spread evil reports concerning
them. They declared that the missionaries had poisoned the wells, and
when the people went to examine them they found that the water had
turned red. The men who accused the missionaries had, before bringing
this charge against them, secretly coloured the water. Other false
accusations, artfully supported by what appeared to be conclusive
evidence, were made against them, and naturally aroused the anger of
the people, whose demeanour became unmistakably threatening.
On July 5 the sad news of the murder of two lady missionaries at
Hsiao-i reached Mrs. Ogren and her husband, and a mandarin, who had
secretly remained friendly towards them, urged them to escape from the
city as soon as possible, and for their travelling expenses the
secretary of the yamen brought them, in the middle of the night, Tls.
10 (L15). Mr. Ogren gave a receipt for the money, and prepared for
their flight, but it was not until July 13 that they were able to start.
Early in the morning, before day-break, a mule-litter was brought to
the back door of the mission garden. Quickly and silently Mr. and Mrs.
Ogren, with their little nine months' old boy, mounted, and started on
their perilous journey to Han-kow.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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