of 1895, following the Japanese war, was one of the most serious and widespread, until all former ones were surpassed by the slaughter of 1900.
The natural hatred of foreigners was aggravated by stories emanating from the gentry and literati, circulated by word of mouth, by placard and pamphlet, charging the missionaries with the kidnapping of children, murder, magic, and vile deeds. Besides, the teaching of Christianity tended to the introduction of ideas hostile to the existing governmental order and struck at ancestor worship. The missionaries opposed such native customs as slavery, concubinage, support of heathen festivals, and foot-binding. In fact, in China, as elsewhere and in all ages, the influence of Christianity was revolutionary. Its Founder declared that he "came not to send peace, but a sword." Paul, the first missionary, when he declared "the Gospel is the power of God," used the Greek word which has been anglicized to designate the most powerful of all modern explosives, dynamite. If the introduction of Christianity into the little island of Britain was attended with bloodshed and disorder for four hundred years, it should not be regarded as strange that in the mighty empire of the East its propagation has been marked by civil commotion.
But the missionaries were not merely the preachers of a new religion. They were useful to the government and society in many ways. The service they have rendered in diplomacy has already been referred to. Everywhere they brought the benefits of education and medicine and established schools and hospitals.
