Augustus F. Lindley

“ How the poor people, fated by the passive stubbornness of their rulers, must have gathered together round their great warrior, as men will rally about a tower of strength; how the unnumbered thousands of helpless non-combatants must have rejoiced at the presence of him whose very name was an army, a bulwark to his people, and a terror to the enemy; how bitterly must the brave, energetic soldier have grieved and chafed at the unnecessarily-incurred annihilation, and growing horrors of the siege, which should have been avoided ”

“ We dream with revolver in belt and gun at hand, ready to knock over stray unwary ducks, or savage, plundering, military Manchoos, should it become necessary. Little kings are we in our own right; obsequiously bends As-sam, pattern of boys and servants, to our lordly nod; meekly answers A-foo, lowder, captain, and pirate that he is; for the white men are strong, the Chinese think, and we must be civil to them while awake, even if we murder them when asleep. ”

“ When the artillery ceased its fire as the stormers mounted the breach, these men made a desperate defence, while the rest of the garrison, emerging from their places of concealment, rushed to man the walls and assist them. But what could these miserably armed men effect against the hundreds of perfectly equipped Europeans pouring over their shattered walls? They fell bravely, disputing every inch of ground.
The defenders driven from the ramparts or killed, the gallant Allies rushed through the small town, indiscriminately massacring every man, woman, and child within its walls. ”

“ There is not much apparent wealth among the Chinese now, any sign of it being a temptation to government officers to extort from the holders. From the day these Tartars came into the country, China has been steadily deteriorating, and now the people may best be likened to herds of grovelling swine, living merely for the day, stultified in intellect by the most degrading superstition. Under the Manchoos, in fact, China exhibits to the world the saddest of all spectacles—the spectacle of a people unable to raise themselves in the social scale, to attain the full stature of man. ”

“ The city, during the night, had been surrounded by the Chinese braves; no hope of escape presented itself, and the besieged fought as desperate men will fight for their lives. Amid the torrent of shells, shrapnel, Moorsom, conical, diaphragm, Armstrong, and other scientific engines of destruction crashing and continuously exploding among them, they bravely stood to their four or five 2-pounders, and resolutely manned their walls under the fearful and murderous fire. ”

“ At these gatherings, the infinite variety of military costume, the bright and gorgeous colours, the rich floating folds of the silken flags, the whole variegated appearance of the multitude of well and becomingly dressed members of a new people, as it were, united for the cause of freedom, and imbued in a wonderful and enthusiastic manner with the fixed determination of Christianizing their mighty empire,—all these combined, presented to the moralist a grand and imposing aspect. ”

“ Is this British justice? How long have Englishmen understood "neutrality" to mean all help and military assistance to one belligerent, but open hostilities towards the other, and punishment of its allies? Had England remained neutral, or had she regularly declared war against the Ti-pings, there might be some grounds for prosecuting those who have assisted the latter; but as neither the one policy nor the other has been followed, it is no more right and just to punish those who have assisted the Ti-pings, than those who have assisted the Manchoo. ”

“ As a talented writer has just proved, [1] "It is not once, nor yet twice, that the policy of the British Government has been ruinous to the best interests of the world. It is not once, nor yet twice, that British deeds have aroused the indignation and horror of 'highly civilized and half-civilized races.' Disregard of international law and of treaty law in Europe—deeds of piracy and spoliation in Asia—one vast system of wrong and violence have everywhere for years marked the dealings of the British Government with the weaker nations of the globe." ”

“ Though not using opium one's self, to venture, nevertheless, on the manufacture and sale of it, and with it to seduce the simple folk of this land, is to seek one's own livelihood by the exposure of others to death—to seek one's own advantage by other men's injury; and such acts are utterly abhorrent to the nature of men, and are utterly opposed to the ways of Heaven."
No wonder the Rev. Dr. Medhurst, one of the most experienced missionaries in China, has said: "Opium is demoralizing China, and become the greatest barrier to the introduction of Christianity which can be conceived of." ”

“ Upon doing so we were met at the gangway by the old nurse of Mellen's children, who was wringing her hands and loudly vociferating the peculiar lament in vogue among the Chinese women when in grief.
A deserted ship has at all times a disheartening, melancholy sort of effect, upon a sailor at all events; but although I had seen such a thing before, even far away upon the vast ocean hundreds of miles from the nearest land, I never experienced so sudden and so fearful a chill as the moment my feet touched that lorcha's deck. ”

“ But, as we find the case every day, the beauty of nature was marred by the passions and strife of mankind. The extensive city was in flames in several quarters, and the dense columns of smoke [492] shrouded as with a pall the slaughter taking place beneath. As we rode forward through the beautiful neighbouring country, we were enabled gradually to discern dark masses of troops rushing forward against the city amid the constant roar of artillery and the rattling crash of smaller arms. It was evident that we had arrived at the moment of a grand assault by the Ti-ping forces. ”

“ How strange it is that there are no men in China! China is the head, Tartary is the feet; China is the land of spirits, Tartary the land of demons. Why may China be deemed the land of spirits? Because the true Spirit, the great God, our heavenly Father, made heaven and earth, the land and the sea (and the Chinese honour him) ; therefore from of old China has been termed the land of spirits. Why are the Tartars to be considered demons? Because the devilish serpent, the king of Hades, is a corrupt demon, and the Tartars have been in the habit of worshipping him ”

“ It may well be questioned whether the whole history of warfare can record a parallel example of forgetfulness, utter forgetfulness, of all propriety to this loot-hunting game which Admiral Hope is now engaged in. An expedition against the rebels is now shown to be so harmless to those engaged in it that we may expect to hear of gentlemen giving their wives and sisters a picnic in front of the next town that is besieged, when we have no doubt that much amusement could be had among the engineers and artillery by allowing the girls to point the guns. ”

“ You, our countrymen, have been aggrieved by the oppressions of the Manchoos long enough: if you do not change your politics, and with united strength and courage sweep away every remnant of these Tartars, how can you answer it to God in the highest heavens? We have now set in motion our righteous army, above to revenge the insult offered to God in deceiving Heaven, and below to deliver China from its inverted position, thus sternly sweeping away every vestige of Tartar influence and unitedly enjoying the happiness of the Ti-ping dynasty. ”

“ Of all the blunders which have recently marked her foreign policy, the late intervention in China is the worst; there we find neither the courage nor intellect which, in former ages, by talent, energy, and success redeemed even acts of aggression; neither do we perceive any desire to forego that system of unjustifiable interference which is so much calculated to render this great nation contemptible.
Hong-Kong is a free port, and in that lies the secret of how to establish relations with the Chinese, Japanese, or any other exclusive Asiatic people. ”

“ His fear was the usual one accompanying the flight of disorganized undisciplined troops, which with Chinese becomes a wild panic; not because the men fear death, for no people can meet it with the stolidity and callousness with which they will suffer execution and torture, but from the simple fact that they are not sufficiently disciplined to know how to be killed in an orderly manner on the field of battle. They see a chance of escape, and on one taking it the whole follow like a flock of sheep. ”