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CHANG 
 
 THE ROYALIST AND REBEL 
 
 BY 
 
 M. Littleton Smithey Collyer 
 
THE LIBRARY OF 
 CONGRESS, 
 
 Two COWE8 ReC€IVEO 
 
 JUN. 20 1902 
 
 COPY B. 
 
 
 Copyright 1902 
 
 BY 
 
 M. Littleton Smitjey Coi^i^yer 
 
 = '^* '.'■'^ e«6 
 
PREFACE 
 
 THIS little volume contains a true story from 
 China. Chang is a real character, who has 
 for years aided the translating committee of the 
 British and Foreign Bible Society in rendering 
 the scriptures into Chinese. 
 
 I have put his story in verse, and have amplified 
 it so far as to make him give a brief exposition of 
 Confucianism, and a few more facts in regard to 
 Gen. Gordon and the Tae-ping Rebellion, than 
 his original narrative contained. These I have 
 taken from trustworthy authorities. In all other 
 essential points Chang's story is as he related it 
 eight years ago to my husband. Rev. C. T. CoU- 
 yer, who was at that time engaged in work of the 
 British and Foreign Bible Society in Shanghai. 
 
 My imagination created the evening of despon- 
 dency with which the story opens, as descriptive 
 of those times which often oppress a missionary 
 in a heathen land, and I have made the coming 
 of Chang at that particular time as the source of 
 encouragement needed. 
 
 The incidents in Bible Society work, the im- 
 prisonment and expulsion from a large city, the 
 hearts of whose people were afterwards strangely 
 stirred by five copies of the Gospel left among 
 them, were true experiences of my husband. 
 M. Littleton Smithey CoIvI^yer. 
 
 May 26, 1902. 
 
DEDICATED 
 
 TO THE MEMORY OF HER, 
 
 WHO FIRST TAUGHT MY STEPS THE WAY TO GOD, 
 
 MY MOTHER 
 
CHANG 
 
 I 
 
 TWAS evening in Shanghai, and I sat alone, 
 Weary of heart by the office hearth-stone 
 Of the British and Foreign Bible House, where 
 I posted the books, and daily strove there 
 To accomplish the work which came to my hand, 
 And glorify the Lord in that far awaj' land. 
 Within there was light, but darkness outside 
 Deeper than that which at evening-tide 
 On the world comes down, or at midnight's hour : 
 For that darkness came of heathen power. 
 And hung like a pall o'er China's great land, 
 Which no light could pierce, nor lift any hand. 
 Save that which broke, when Bethlehem's star 
 Arose to lighten the world afar. 
 And the hand reaching downward, pierced for sin, 
 Ever knocking at her heart but never let in, 
 Though a few of her people believed His word, 
 And those who preached it, sent of the Lord. 
 An idol procession below filled the street. 
 And upward came sounds of the tramping of feet. 
 
 II 
 
 My heart on that eve was sinking within. 
 Pressed down by the misery, suffering and sin 
 
 5 
 
CHANG 
 
 Of a nation that its God had forgot, 
 
 And set up its own gods, but Gods they were not, 
 
 And how fruitless seemed best effort of mine 
 
 To lift men higher — up to the Divine. 
 
 Added to that I held in my hand 
 
 A letter from a friend in my own native land, 
 
 Who needed, himself, but only to fall 
 
 At the feet of the Master, yielding Him all 
 
 The talents of mind and talents of gold, 
 
 Entrusted for use so many fold, 
 
 With character strong and heart so true 
 
 That, if once given, well I knew 
 
 Would stand the test, though tried by fire, 
 
 And purified come, with but desire 
 
 To glorify his Lord and serve anywhere, 
 
 When self sank dow^n and God rose there. 
 
 Sometimes through his letters a bright thread ran, 
 
 And I would deem that time near at hand ; 
 
 But he now asked proofs of success in the work, 
 
 And beneath that question another did lurk. 
 
 And added he " After all, does it pay 
 
 For time and money expended that way, 
 
 To say nothing of lives sacrificed there, 
 
 When at home there is plenty to do everywhere ?'* 
 
 Ill 
 
 An answer to this, I could not delay. 
 But felt it must speedily go on its way 
 6 
 
CHANG 
 
 Even with the morn, to witness 'twas worth 
 All expended to send forth the truth, 
 That perishing souls might look unto him, 
 Their Saviour who had suffered for them ; 
 To whom they were precious, tho' steeped in sin, 
 So precious, He died their lost souls to win. 
 
 IV 
 
 Is a soul worth saving ? Ask of thy soul 
 
 And let its answer thy life control.. 
 
 As it did His, who on the cross died 
 
 And, answered forever, in the blood of His side, 
 
 The worth of a soul, through sin tho' it fell, 
 
 The life of the Lord — to save it from Hell. 
 
 V 
 
 But my heart was heavy and I longed that night 
 
 For some new message to tell of the light 
 
 The Gospel was bringing — wearily then, 
 
 Time after time, grasped I my pen 
 
 Statistics to wTite over again, 
 
 And things seen and heard that might not be vain, 
 
 But failed ; then, turning away with a sigh, 
 
 I felt I needed somewhat from on high 
 
 For my own troubled soul — some Heaven-born 
 
 light, 
 Ere I could influence another aright, 
 
 7 
 
CHANG 
 
 I felt I needed more faith in God's word, 
 Which He declared should not return void. 
 
 VI 
 
 With that thought I arose, and stood in the room, 
 Stored with that printed word in many a tongue, 
 Whose embossed titles in the firelight glowed, 
 From shelves surrounding me where they were 
 
 stowed ; 
 And thought of the volumes the whole house 
 
 through, 
 And those daily sent forth which fell like the dew 
 All over the land, that through it might steal 
 The knowledge of God and His great love reveal. 
 
 VII 
 
 As I gazed, I thought of those first early days, 
 When my heart leaped up, filled with His praise, 
 And forth I had gone, trusting in naught 
 But God's promise, His word should void return 
 
 not; 
 And how it sustained me both night and day. 
 When far away inland I went on my way, 
 That word to distribute — to the people to sell — 
 And strove in broken language the storj' to tell 
 Of a God over all, of a Saviour who came 
 And died for their sins, and prepared them a home, 
 
CHANG 
 
 Beyond their Emperor's grandeur, or the stars 
 
 that shone 
 In the firmament above, or the glory of the sun, 
 And the love that brought Him down, eternal life 
 
 to give. 
 And take them to Himself forever more to live. 
 
 VIII 
 
 Sometimes I was roughly treated, and imprisoned 
 
 too, 
 Again kindly received by humblest of the low, 
 Who nobler guest had had to come and sup with 
 
 them, 
 For they'd heard the Saviour's voice and had let 
 
 Him in. 
 Sometimes with buoyant spirit I traveled on for 
 
 days. 
 Again my spirit sank, as hedged were all the ways, 
 Crosses too were given, though heavy I must bear, 
 To bring me nearer God, and to uplift me there. 
 Illness then my portion, and it laid me low. 
 But, through it all, m}^ Saviour I better learned 
 
 to know. 
 Oft for many months I no foreign face could see, 
 But multitudes of natives e'er surrounded me, 
 Whose hardened, heathen faces, like adamant un- 
 moved, 
 As their stone gods no power of heart, the set ex- 
 pression showed, 
 9 
 
CHANG 
 
 Which well nigh beat back my courage with the 
 
 hardened look. 
 As did hatred and vile curses in every wa}^ I took, 
 Yet they once bore the image of the most Holy 
 
 One — 
 Created like Himself — ard redeemed with His 
 
 Son; 
 And yet again can bear it through redeeming 
 
 grace — 
 I have seen its glory gleam on the Christian's 
 
 softened face. 
 
 IX 
 
 Again one' sent of God would pass along the w^ay, 
 With sympathy that brightened many a weary day, 
 Once when sore discouraged, I found a frailer' one. 
 Bearing heavier burden than e'er to me had come. 
 Whose eyes of faith looked upward through the 
 
 darkest night, 
 And patient face wore traces of a heavenly light ; 
 And I went forth afresh to fight the battle o'er. 
 And win it for my Master, where I had failed 
 
 before. 
 
 X 
 
 I ever felt the burden of the watchman on the 
 wall, 
 
 1 A foreign worker, 2 interior lady missionary. 
 10 
 
CHANG 
 
 If I warned not the people, their blood on me 
 
 would fall, 
 If but the blood of one was required at my hand, 
 How could I, at the last, before my Master stand ? 
 
 XI 
 
 Oft I saw a father forward lead his son 
 To a temple, where instructions were begun 
 In heathen worship, and before his idols fall, 
 While I with rent heart upon my God would call 
 To mercy have, and grant some beam of heavenly 
 
 light 
 From the Son of Righteousness to dawn upon his 
 
 night. " 
 
 Ere this prayer would leave me, I would hear a 
 
 cry — 
 From beggars on the street as I was passing by — 
 ' * Do good deeds great teacher ! ' ' and it coined all 
 The misery to me to mankind could befall : 
 For good deeds, done for merit, men so often sell 
 Their immortal soul to death's eternal hell, 
 With good deeds, to Heaven the way was never 
 
 won , 
 But only through the merit of God's Holy Son. 
 
 XII 
 
 Once faith almost wavered, for there came a day, 
 
 When from a great walled city I was turned away, 
 
 11 
 
CHANG 
 
 Where I had gone, there hoping to sell all my store 
 Of Gospels ere I left, and even many more ; 
 With my native helper, I was imprisoned there 
 
 that night, 
 And by a band of soldiers sent with the early light 
 Outside the official precincts ; as I rode by their 
 
 side, 
 I could not understand what then did me betide, 
 Why had I sold but fiv^e books ? I questioned o'er 
 
 and o'er. 
 When with such faith and labor I'd taken thous- 
 ands more. 
 As we passed out the city, the ponderous iron gate, 
 Swinging back on rusty hinges, seemed into my 
 
 soul to grate, 
 And tears sprang to my eyes, for disappointment 
 
 sore 
 And failure crowned my life as it never had before. 
 
 XIII 
 
 Yet once more I struggled forward, and onward 
 
 w^ent my way 
 Far into the interior, and long after met one day 
 Another in God's work, who joyfully told to me, 
 How in a distant city God had wrought great 
 
 victory — 
 He said two missionaries reached a city where he'd 
 
 heard, 
 
 12 
 
CHANG 
 
 The people crowded round and asked them for 
 
 God's word, 
 " Of God," enquired they, " How is it that you 
 
 know ? " 
 The people made reply — ' ' 'Twas a long while ago, 
 One day at even-tide, when 'twas growing late, 
 A foreigner came here through this same city 
 
 gate — 
 The people pressed upon him, his like they'd never 
 
 seen. 
 For a foreigner in our city before had never been — 
 He spoke of a new life that one to us could give, 
 Who loved and for us died that henceforth w^e 
 
 might live. 
 He declared the books he then held in his hand 
 Would tell us of that life and of a glorious land. 
 Five books alone he'd sold when the Governor for 
 
 him sent. 
 And made him leave the city, and thus away he 
 
 went- 
 But the books we read — and we would know 
 
 more 
 Of this new life of which w^e've heard but once be- 
 fore." 
 Again the tears welled to my eyes, for by my 
 
 little all 
 God's great power I'd measured, because my faith 
 
 was small, 
 
 13 
 
CHANG 
 
 Then songs of praises from my heart ascended 
 
 full and free 
 For God's great faithfulness — faithfulness to me. 
 
 XIV 
 
 As those experiences, following fast, 
 
 Came to strengthen me, back from the past, 
 
 Faith came with power my faint soul to light. 
 
 And again I turned me round to write. 
 
 I eagerly grasped my pen, but had done scarcely 
 
 more, 
 When there came a ring at the Society's street 
 
 door. 
 
 XV 
 
 I quickly left my desk, and went down the stair, 
 And opened wide the door, to find standing there 
 Chang, a man whom I had met many times before, 
 A native of some five and sixty years or more, 
 Whose intellectual eye and strong face combined 
 Showed strength of character and brilliancy of 
 
 mind. 
 In his native country, a high place he had won, 
 Then yet a higher — in the kingdom of God's Son — 
 Of a humble Christian man, working for his bread, 
 And among his people striving the Gospel's light 
 
 to spread, 
 
 14 
 
CHANG 
 
 In a Christian mission, he held of trust a place 
 And was a man of thought and of Christian grace. 
 
 XVI 
 
 I had often, in the past, had short converse with 
 
 him, 
 When together thrown in our work we'd been, 
 And he never left me, but I longed to know the 
 
 more 
 Of a life so different from that life before. 
 
 XVII 
 
 I gladly welcomed him, and showed him up the 
 stair, 
 
 And soon we both were seated in my office, where 
 
 We conversed a while, and then he said to me, 
 
 ' ' When I left home to-night, I thought not you 
 to see, 
 
 I had been to service at the Mission Church to- 
 night 
 
 And turned the Nee Mo LulC to see your window's 
 light. 
 
 And something brought me here — what I do not 
 know — 
 
 Unless it is to talk of what oft we have before — 
 
 Of how God's word is spreading and bringing in 
 the light 
 
 To my darkened people, as I have heard to-night 
 
 1 A street in Shanghai. 
 
 15 
 
CHANG 
 
 But some they cursed the preacher, it grieved my 
 
 heart to see, 
 And yet " — he bowed his head — "once 'twas the 
 
 same with me. ' ' 
 On his face a sadness deepened as he spoke, 
 And there fell a silence, which presently I broke, 
 By asking him his life a little to unfold. 
 As I much desired to know more than I'd been told. 
 As he raised his head I could his features scan, 
 Deep thought o'erspread his face, as his story 
 
 thus began : 
 
 XVIII 
 
 ' ' In Nankin my childhood and early youth were 
 
 spent, 
 My father's home was there, and to school I was 
 
 duly sent, 
 To become a scholar, and have a degree, 
 Thus following my father, for such an one was he. 
 There I studied on, till twenty years of age, 
 Following Confucius, China's greatest sage, 
 Adherent of his system, based on philosophy 
 Of political and social life, which constantly taught 
 
 he 
 His disciples, that fully I might attain 
 Wisdom and knowledge which one alone could 
 
 gain, 
 
 16 
 
CHANG 
 
 By performance strict, and faithfully given, 
 Of appointed duties and the cultivation 
 Of proper feelings all, and sentiments most true, 
 Which, however hard, I ever strove to do. 
 
 XIX 
 
 " My country's ancient laws I venerated all, 
 
 And the dead I worshiped in ancestral hall, 
 
 Also spirits, rivers, moimtains and Shangti, 
 
 Whose outward emblem is the firmament we see. 
 
 But which is only verbal personification, 
 
 And nothing more, that has been given 
 
 To the ever present law and the order found 
 
 And intelligence, which ever doth abound, 
 
 In activities of physical creation, 
 
 In season's circuit, day and night's alternation, 
 
 Which doth seem to breathe in the tides ebb and 
 
 'flow 
 And to move along as the heavenly bodies go. 
 
 XX 
 
 ' ' When Confucius did to this power ascribe 
 Intelligence and the exercise 
 Of moral government, he did but only speak 
 Of nature's laws, nor further seemed to seek — 
 If at times he held a thought, in his inmost soul. 
 Of mysterious life, pervading the whole, 
 17 
 
CHANG 
 
 Expression did not give of what might be, 
 A spark of Ufe there struggHng for immortality — 
 But sometimes reprimanded those whom he taught 
 For seeking into things beyond their depth of 
 
 thought, 
 All spiritual tendency thus crushing 
 In human nature by repudiating, 
 Of unknown things, all speculation 
 And well nigh all investigation. 
 On metaphysics, he would not think. 
 And from theology equall}^ did shrink. 
 In all his teaching, there is no trace of God, 
 Or that all things came forth by his word, 
 Thus following his teaching, like him I became 
 An atheist as all who doth name his name. ' ' 
 
 XXI 
 
 Chang paused, and as he did so, I thought how 
 
 true, 
 Of Confucian doctrine, was his expressed view ; 
 P'or individuality in man it crushes all 
 And that which, on conviction, though he needs 
 
 must fall, 
 Makes him single-handed face a foe and fight — 
 To live or die for that which he believes is right — 
 As the martyrs did, whose blood upon the ground 
 Proved they believed they'd find what in death 
 
 they found. 
 
 18 
 
CHANG 
 
 XXII 
 
 " 'Twas more than forty years ago," then con- 
 tinued he, 
 "In Emperor Hien-Fung's reign before that of 
 
 Tung-Chi, 
 Discontent was then great in the land ; 
 The people were oppressed by official hand, 
 Till starvation came creeping to the door, 
 Still the extortioner yet extortioned more, 
 Till ready were the people to accept, it seemed. 
 Anything in view and however wild a scheme. 
 That deliverance promised from their sad condition 
 And would give the right of claiming resti- 
 tution, 
 When there arose a man who'd disappointed been 
 Of government employ — Hung-Sew-Tsuen. 
 Incensed was he by failure — was Heaven-sent he 
 
 claimed, 
 An inspired one, and his mission he proclaimed 
 Was the hated Manchu from the throne to cast, 
 And place a Ming thereon whose dynasty should 
 
 last. 
 Prophet too, claimed he, of vengeance and free- 
 dom 
 Champion of power, and seer of vision. 
 
 19 
 
CHANG 
 
 XXIII 
 
 "Some thought him demented, but so masterly 
 The means to converts gain e'er employed he, 
 That the people believed and it was not long 
 Ere his army grew to many thousand strong. 
 Then he proclaimed himself the Heavenly-sent 
 
 king. 
 The emperor of great peace — Tae-Ping. 
 
 XXIV 
 
 * ' Five warrior kinsmen he then by his hand 
 Created kings, and the army through the land 
 Marched, spreading ruin and fire, distress and 
 
 famine sore, 
 And every day the number yet numbered more. 
 Secret societies ancient, warriors desperate. 
 Yet swelled the number, with bandit and pirate. 
 
 XXV 
 
 *' When first I heard the news, I did not think it 
 
 true, 
 
 The rebels were so strong and such harm could do; 
 
 But, as the time went by, all was true I found, 
 
 And the people fell with faces to the ground. 
 
 When they saw advancing that barbaric host 
 
 With tawdry dress and banners, and they did 
 
 almost 
 
 20 
 
CHANG 
 
 Perish, ere the rebels fell upon them with knife 
 
 and cutlass, 
 Their homes and lives to take, and the land devast. 
 
 XXVI 
 
 "Still I studied on, deeming that the foe 
 By Imperial hand would soon be lying low. 
 Till three years had passed since in the land. 
 First we had heard rumors of the rebel band, 
 When one day to the city some one news did bring, 
 That the fearful army was marching on Nankin. 
 
 XXVII 
 
 * * Terror-stricken people many fled to find 
 Refuge in other places, leaving all behind ; 
 Others there remained, and did the hope express 
 That the Imperialists yet would them repress. 
 But that hope was vain, for there came a day. 
 When from the city rose a great cry of dismay. 
 Which told they were upon us — I, too, quaked 
 
 with fear, 
 When from the wall I saw them fast advancing 
 
 near, 
 Their aspect more dreadful than ever I had 
 
 dreamed — 
 Ere long the city fell and within they streamed. 
 
 21 
 
CHANG 
 XXVIII 
 
 * ' Wildly the people ran to and fro that day ; 
 
 Grasping my father's hand, with him I fled away, 
 
 Striving with many others the opposite gate to 
 reach 
 
 In the city's wall from where they made the 
 breach, 
 
 Sometimes we stumbled sorely and oft were over- 
 run, 
 
 Before the arches of that distant gate were won ; 
 
 Then came a backward swaying — a falling to the 
 ground, 
 
 As the gate was held by the enemy we found. 
 
 To right and left we ran, as best we could we fled, 
 
 Fearing to look backward, as swiftly on we sped. 
 
 XXIX 
 
 " I sought a place of refuge by the wall to gain. 
 And, when the point was won, deemed it not in 
 
 vain; 
 But great was my dismay, on looking round to 
 
 find, 
 A young man there with me, my father left be- 
 hind. 
 I started up at once to go and search for him. 
 But saw the way cut off in the distance dim, 
 
 22 
 
CHANG 
 
 By rebels pouring through the gate and I knew 
 
 that he 
 Had been taken by their hand, as those behind 
 
 would be. 
 
 XXX 
 
 * ' The young man and myself crouched close be- 
 side the wall, 
 Till the evening shadows darkening began to fall; 
 Climbing over then, we safely reached the ground 
 And started for the river, where a boat we found, 
 Which was there for hire, and gained the other 
 
 side, 
 Ere the morning broke, tho' the river there is 
 
 wide. 
 Northward then we wandered, living as we could, 
 In no place tarr3'ing long, for fear the rebels would 
 Come upon and take us, as they did at last 
 In a hamlet, where we the night had passed. 
 
 XXXI 
 
 ** Manual work was given me, which I could not 
 
 do; 
 When that was reported and found to be true. 
 And that I had never done such work before, 
 But was a scholar, versed in Confucius lore, 
 
 23 
 
CHANG 
 
 The rolls to keep were given me, and thus did I 
 Unwillingl}^ the rebels serve till several years 
 
 passed by, 
 Yet, all that time a chance to make escape I 
 
 sought, 
 But such an hoped for one was presented not. 
 Till one night the armies in darkness lay opposed, 
 And the great rebel camp in slumber deep re- 
 posed ; 
 Then I to Imperial forces did stealthily repair. 
 And signalled surrender to the guard standing 
 
 there. 
 Keeping the Imperial rolls I served for three 
 
 years more, 
 As I had done the rebels for three 3xars before. 
 Then a change was made, and it was not long 
 Before I was Secretary to great Li Hung Chang. 
 
 XXXII 
 
 * ' All this time the w^ar had raged solely between 
 The Imperial government and Hung Sew Tsuen. 
 Strength was ever added to the rebel band. 
 And misery and want grew greater in the^ land ; 
 Then foreign aid was sought, and in Sung Kiang 
 
 to-day 
 Lies Ward, the American, who that city took 
 
 away 
 
 24 
 
CHANG 
 
 From the enemj', and rendered service true 
 To my suffering country as he essayed to do. 
 Then after one unworthy/ General Gordon came, 
 A skilled Englishman, whose one and only aim 
 In life was his duty faithfully to do, 
 No victory regarded he to effort of his due ; 
 But, whate'er his triumphs, held them not his 
 
 own, 
 But of a higher cause, for which he'd fought and 
 
 won, 
 The name of Gordon, ah! 'tis high on honour's 
 
 roll. 
 And where e'er recorded bears the whiteness of 
 
 his soul. 
 
 XXXIII 
 
 * * Though difficulties many awaited then his hand, 
 The army grew victorious under his command. 
 That army a great leader no longer needed then, 
 And city after city were recaptured by his men. 
 When Soochow was taken, where the warrior 
 
 kings 
 Surrendered we hoped for greater things ; 
 But ere they came, while we rejoiced o'er present 
 
 victory. 
 There fell a dark spot on our country's history. 
 General Gordon had promised, endorsed by Li,"* 
 
 ^ Burgevine. ^ i^i Hung Chang. 
 
 25 
 
CHANG 
 
 That if Soochow surrendered, honourable should 
 
 be 
 The treatment of the warrior kings of the rebel 
 
 band, 
 Who gave up the city to Imperial hand. 
 Soochow surrendered, and Gordon marched away^ 
 To take the city of Quin-San, and, on return 
 
 next day, 
 Was met by General Ching, who told him it was 
 
 said 
 That mercy unto all had been accorded. 
 He was pleased and satisfied ; but it was not long 
 Ere he heard massacred they had been by Li 
 
 Hung Chang. 
 He bowed his head and wept when he found 
 
 'twas true. 
 Perhaps the most trying moment his life ever knew. 
 ' ' For three daj^s did he seek for Li Hung Chang; 
 'Tis said that had he found him, avenged had 
 
 been the wrong. 
 The deed w^as laid to Gordon, but 'twas not of 
 
 his hand ; 
 And there arose a cry all throughout the land, 
 That not even when the men of Han fought Mon- 
 
 gal and Manchu, 
 Or half barbaric troops, in the glorious days of Chu, 
 
 ^ Gen. Gordon, before leaving Soochow, was assured of the 
 safety of the warrior kings, and bade them good by, as they went 
 to give over the city formally to Li Hung Chang. 
 
CHANG 
 
 Did ever China blush with deed or with blood so 
 
 spilled, 
 Or atrocity so great as of the army English-drilled. 
 
 XXXIV 
 
 ' ' The honours the country gave, Gordon threw 
 
 upon her soil, 
 Such could not appease his honour's wild turmoil. 
 He stood erect receiving only honour of his God, 
 At whose call his feet had first pressed our heathen 
 
 sod. 
 To continue the campaign was to endorse that 
 
 done — 
 To leave the country to its fate, to lose what had 
 
 been won. 
 He knew that innocent lives yet to be defended 
 Of millions of people still on him depended 
 And, though the deed placed him in difficulty 
 
 great, 
 For their sakes again he served when exonerate' 
 
 XXXV 
 
 " None can tell how fearful things had grown to be 
 In the land but they those fearful things did see. 
 Hung Sew Tsuen was guilty of cruelties greater 
 
 than 
 Has ever been accorded to any other man ; 
 
 1 Gen. Gordon required the Chinese Government to issue a 
 proclamation exonerating him. 
 
 27 
 
CHANG 
 
 Flaying alive, pounding to death were practiced 
 
 by him 
 As usual puniishment of unfortunate victim. 
 
 XXXVI 
 
 How the people suffered all o'er the land, 
 
 It is impossible for one to understand ; 
 
 From place to place there wandered gaunt, starv- 
 ing creatures, they 
 
 Would from decaying corpses eat human flesh 
 away ; 
 
 Helpless bound-feet women, little children by their 
 side, 
 
 Were by the cruel rebels slaughtered far and wide. 
 
 XXXVII 
 
 ' * A few more months of conflict, and only Nankin 
 
 then 
 Was by the rebels held, where reigned Hung- 
 
 Sew-Tsuen 
 When that cit}^ fell, he was advised to flee. 
 But despised the suggestion that one so great as 
 
 he — 
 Lord of ten thousand nations and who then held 
 
 fast 
 The Empire, hills and streams, in an iron grasp — 
 
 28 
 
CHANG 
 
 Should fear or flee ; but, when he saw the coming 
 
 end, 
 He hung his thirty wives, and took his ow^n life 
 
 then. 
 
 XXXVIII 
 
 " Thus after fifteen years the great rebellion o'er, 
 I homeward to Nankin turned my steps once more, 
 To learn my father's fate, of which I nothing heard. 
 Though inquiring often, of him I'd had no word, 
 * * When I neared the city, I saw that everywhere 
 Destruction was written, and all things waste and 
 
 bare — 
 The stone animals and warriors guarding the 
 
 Mings, 
 As they lay entombed, alone were unmolested 
 
 things — 
 Level with the ground, the porcelain tower great. 
 And all within the city w^as made desolate, 
 
 XXXIX 
 
 "After weary searching, my childhood's home I 
 
 found ; 
 'Twas but a pile of debris rising from the ground. 
 No tidings of my father gained I anywhere. 
 Though day and night I sought him among the 
 
 people there, 
 
 29 
 
CHANG 
 
 Till days grew into months, and months to years 
 
 gave place, 
 Yet, for all my seeking, of him I found no trace. 
 I knew not with the living or the dead, were he, 
 But ever longed the more his face once more to 
 
 see, 
 Wondering what suffering he'd had to undergo, 
 How I'd have saved him from it, this to you will 
 
 show ; ' ' 
 He put aside his sleeve, and his left arm made 
 
 bare, 
 And showed a large, deep scar above the elbow, 
 
 where 
 His own flesh had been taken, that it might avail 
 To save his father's life, when all remedies once 
 
 failed. ' 
 
 XL 
 
 Continuing his story, said he, " One day there 
 
 came 
 Rumor that a man of my father's age and name 
 In the city of Hongchow by some one had been 
 
 seen. 
 I hastened there to find that in the place there' d 
 
 been 
 
 ^It is a belief in China that, when all remedies fail, a parent 
 will be restored to health by eating the flesh of his child. 
 
CHANG 
 
 One like unto my father, but learned I nothing 
 
 more, 
 Though for two years I searched city and country 
 
 o'er. 
 I was then informed to Socchow he had gone ; 
 As soon as I heard that, thither I hastened on 
 To find awaiting me, as there had been before, 
 After weary searching, disappointment sore. 
 With but faint hope within me, it was then that I, 
 Hearing another rumor, turned footsteps to 
 
 Shanghai ; 
 There I lived and sought him till hope had fled 
 
 from me, 
 And despair had told me his face no more I'd see- 
 
 XLI 
 
 " One day while passing a familiar street along, 
 
 I heard the singing of a Christian song. 
 
 I quickly looked to see from whence had come 
 the sound. 
 
 And saw an open door, with people gathering round; 
 
 I pushed my way along until I stood within 
 
 A small street chapel where people were wor- 
 shiping. 
 
 A foreigner' stood preaching Christ, such I'd not 
 heard before, 
 
 Foreigners I hated— their God I hated more. 
 
 ^The late Dr. Muirhead, of the I^ondon Missionary Society. 
 31 
 
CHANG 
 
 I set me to blaspheme, and to my countrj^men 
 
 Derided Christ and Christian, and showed con- 
 tempt for them. 
 
 By drawing m}^ silken robe aside lest polluted it 
 should be. 
 
 By contact with the chapel pews of Christianity. 
 
 While I thus derided and enjoined the people 
 there, 
 
 In a corner I beheld someone bowed in prayer ; 
 
 I forw^ard moved to him to draw him from his 
 place. 
 
 But when he raised his head, I looked on my 
 father's face. 
 
 XLII 
 
 ' * One moment all was silent, then that meeting 
 
 after j^ears 
 Came with a rush of feeling and a flow of tears ; 
 The Christian service had to end, so noisy had 
 
 become, 
 By what had happened, the little chapel's room. 
 
 XUII 
 
 *' The emotion and excitement were but scarcely 
 
 o'er 
 Of meeting my father, and ere wx left the door, 
 
 32 
 
CHANG 
 
 I even chided him for the Jesus doctrine new ; 
 But he replied, if you knew Jesus you would love 
 Him too. 
 
 XLIV 
 
 ** That was all the answer made, but as I walked 
 
 by his side 
 To his humble dwelling, where I would abide. 
 He told me how his life was spared, and of his 
 
 wanderings sore, 
 And great sorrow, for me he feared he'd see no 
 
 more. 
 "But the Heavenly Father brought you ; He has 
 
 blessed me night and day, 
 And Jesus Christ, His Son, has taken my sins 
 
 away. ' ' 
 Ere he slept that night, from a book read he 
 Of Christ's great love for sinners, and then he 
 
 prayed for me. 
 
 XLV 
 
 *' The hated doctrine I pondered, as I noted day 
 
 by day 
 The light upon my father's face that naught 
 
 could take away. 
 And human life made perfect by power I did not 
 
 know, 
 
 l.ofC. 33 
 
CHANG 
 
 With no reference to Confucius, or aught that he 
 
 did show. 
 With conscious sins all pardoned, and heart where 
 
 perfect peace 
 Reigned with a hope eternal of joys that could 
 
 not cease. 
 As I thought of that power and life so strange 
 
 and new, 
 I, too, read the scriptures to find if it were true ; 
 What wonder that the Spirit breathing through 
 
 the whole, 
 Changed me from a heathen to a Christian soul ! 
 
 XLVI 
 
 ' ' Since then I've followed Jesus, and the Christian 
 
 way have trod. 
 And am bringing up my children in love and fear 
 
 of God ; 
 His grace it is sufiicient. Once, when on a bed 
 
 of pain, 
 His presence filled my room and joy returned 
 
 again. 
 None could e'er dissuade me that vision I did not 
 
 see, 
 For it brought comfort then, and still abides with 
 
 me. 
 But list'! the custom's clock I hear ! Eleven is 
 
 the hour, 
 
 34 
 
CHANG 
 
 And I must go. God bless and keep you by His 
 power !" 
 
 With that he said good-night ; I showed him 
 down the stair, 
 
 And saw him cross the street, while I was stand- 
 ing there. 
 
 And pass into the darkness, which held no 
 night for him. 
 
 For the Pagan soul was lighted by the Christ 
 within. 
 
 XI.VII 
 
 I back into the office turned with a heart made 
 
 light 
 By the wondrous story I had heard that night, 
 And unto many since that story I have told, 
 And its inspiration still within my heart I hold. 
 
Richmond 
 
 CI.YDE W. Saunders 
 
 Printer 
 
J UN 2 :iDi