CHINA. 



159 



of the public exercise of any other." The dis- 

 cussion terminated in a way quite satisfactory 

 to the Liberal party, notwithstanding the full 

 strength of the Catholic party was brought to 

 bear for the purpose of upholding this article. 

 The law, as now approved by Congress and 

 sanctioned by the Executive, declares in Arti- 

 cle 1 That worship within buildings belonging 

 to private persons is allowed to those who do 

 not profess the Eoman Catholic religion ; and 

 in Article 2 That Dissenters are allowed to 

 establish and sustain private schools for the 

 initiation of their own children in the doctrines 

 of their religion. 



CHINA. An empire in Eastern Asia. Em- 

 peror Ki-Tsiang (before his accession to the 

 throne, Tsai-Sung), born in 1855, succeeded his 

 father, Hieng-Fnnd, in 1861. Population es- 

 timated in 1849 at 415,000,000.* 



The beginning of the year 1865 found the 

 power of the Taipings broken. Their great 

 leaders were mostly dead, and their vast ar- 

 mies dispersed. Numerous bands, however, 

 constituting together a considerable force, con- 

 tinued the rebellion. In the latter part of 1864 

 their chief leader, and "Protector-General," 

 Shi-Wong, said to be a brother of Chung-Wong, 

 the best leader in the old army, issued two no- 

 tifications, one to the people of the country, 

 and another to the foreign treaty powers. In 

 the address to the people, the Protector-Gen- 

 eral informs them that the Tartar dynasty must 

 be displaced, and that the empire of China 

 must be governed by Chinese. No violence 

 will be offered to those who submit to Taiping 

 rule. The second notification issued by the 

 Taiping leader is addressed to the treaty 

 powers. The Protector-General deprecates all 

 feelings of hostility between his people and 

 foreign powers. He intimates his intention of 

 pushing his campaigns over the empire. He 

 proposes terms of cooperation with the powers. 

 These terms are, a constant supply of arms and 

 ammunition to begin with. Then it is pro- 

 posed that foreign nations shall commence a 

 career of conquest under the sanction and au- 

 thority of the heavenly dynasty. The plan 

 laid down is that the powers shall ravage the 

 coasts, seize whatever ports they choose, to 

 become their own property, and retain for 

 their own use all the spoil they can lay hands 

 upon. Furthermore, the Taipings undertake 

 to conduct operations in the interior and move 

 toward Pekin simultaneously with the progress 

 of the foreigners along the coast. The Tap- 

 pings go on to say that every city which they 

 take will be duly plundered, and one-half of the 

 proceeds in each case handed over to their 

 powerful allies. 



The headquarters of the Taipings were at 

 Changchow, in the province of Fo-kien, and 

 distant from the treaty fort of Amoy only fif- 

 teen miles. In March and April several en- 

 gagements took place in the vicinity of Chang- 



* For further statistical information, see ANNUAL CYCLO- 

 PAEDIA for 1861 



chow ; in one the rebels lost 2,000 men, in the 

 later one they defeated the Imperialists with 

 a loss of 1,000 men. In May they evacuated 

 Changchow, where they had been for some 

 time so closely invested that a few weeks, it 

 was thought, would have rendered their sit- 

 uation untenable. Having collected a number 

 of Europeans and made their men perfect in 

 drill, they pressed forward in the south and 

 southeast, and contributed their share to the 

 general disorder of the empire, which at this 

 time was suffering from two other rebellions. 

 After this time, little was heard of the in- 

 dependent operations of the Taipings, and they 

 are mentioned only in connection with the 

 other rebels. In May, the American Burgevine, 

 while on his way from Amoy to join the Taiping 

 garrison at Changchow, was arrested by the 

 Mandarins. The Chinese officials informed the 

 American Consul at Amoy, who repeatedly, but 

 in vain, demanded his release, but he was kept 

 as a prisoner by the Viceroy at Foochow. Sub- 

 sequently it was officially reported that, with 

 other prisoners, he had been drowned. 



In January, 1865, an insurrection of the Mo- 

 hammedan Dsunganes in Western Tartary, the 

 origin of which dates back to the year 1862, 

 assumed large and threatening dimensions. 

 According to advices received from St. Peters- 

 burg, the loss of the province of Hi to the 

 Chinese, as well as the remainder of Western 

 Tartary, was a settled matter from the begin- 

 ning of the year. Kashgar, Yarkand, Aksu, 

 Tchougoutchak, and all the other principal 

 towns in the region, were wrested from them 

 by the insurgents. The only place which the 

 Chinese continued to hold was Kuldja, the 

 capital of Hi province, on the Eussian frontier. 

 According to direct advices, received by the St. 

 Petersburg "Invalicle," and dated November 

 4, Kopal, Eussian province of Semipalatinsk 

 (which borders upon Chinese Toorkistan), 

 Kuldja (Urga), with its Chinese garrison, was 

 still being besieged by the Dsunganes, who 

 were in hopes of taking it shortly. The Kir- 

 ghise of the region, finding the Chinese power 

 on the decline, began to rebel and plunder; 

 and there was a rumor that 5,000 Chinese mi- 

 litia, who had been colonized in those parts, in- 

 tended crossing the frontier, and seeking refuge 

 in Eussian territory, where they would be well 

 received and provided with land from the 

 abundant domains of the Government. In 

 Kashgar and Yarkand the Dsunganes had 

 been beaten by the tribes of Kiptchak. Ac- 

 cording to a current, but, the " Invalide " says, 

 absurd report, the English had asked permis- 

 sion of the Kiptchak to establish a factory on 

 the Lake Sari Kach, situate in a dominant po- 

 sition on the ridge separating Kunduz from 

 Kashgar. 



The Nien-fei (" northern rebels "), whose in- 

 surrection, like that of the Mohammedans, 

 began several years ago, obtained also in the 

 first months of the year 1865 several successes. 

 They contrived in the early part of April to 



