SiNGAN — The Present Chinese Capital 63 



to call an extra session of Congress. 

 I feel proud of my country for the rec- 

 ord she has established on this occa- 

 sion, not only taking her place among 

 the Great Powers who have interests as 

 wide as the world, but showing that her 

 arms are long*- enough to protect and 

 rescue her people in all parts of the 

 globe. 



INDEMNITY FOR NATIVE CHRISTIANS. 



The curtain has not 5^et fallen on the 

 last scene of this tremendous drama. 

 The Empress and her court fled the city 

 almost at the moment when our troops 

 entered it, and she has taken refuge at 

 an old capital in one of the northwestern 

 provinces. Whether the government 

 will be reestablished at Pekin is highly 

 problematical. For my own part, I 

 think the restoration of the young Em- 

 peror, who might carry out his progress- 

 ive measures under the supervision of 

 the Great Powers, offers the best solu- 

 tion. The integrity of the empire would 

 then be maintained and possible conflicts 

 between European claimants averted. 



China must, of course, pa}^ a heavy war 

 indemnity. It is understood that not 

 only the foreign nations, but individual 

 foreigners, will be indemnified ; but no 

 assurance is given that any compensation 



will be made to native Christians, whose 

 houses have been burned and whose re- 

 lations have been slaughtered. Diplo- 

 matists and military men have joined in 

 acknowledging that but for the bone and 

 muscle supplied by those native Chris- 

 tians, the defense of the legations would 

 have been impossible. Though tliey per- 

 formed the humble office of navvies in 

 building barricades, digging trenches, 

 and countermining against the enemy, 

 their services were indispensable to the 

 common safety. 



I cannot believe that any Christian 

 country will consent to the gross injus- 

 tice which is involved in excluding them 

 from the provisions of the indemnity 

 clause. 



The greatest enemy to the orderly 

 and profitable intercourse of nations is 

 heathen darkness. No restriction , there- 

 fore, should in anj^ way be placed on the 

 operations of missionary bodies who seek 

 to dispel that darkness, and to diffuse 

 the light of science as well as religion. 

 Without these our railway and mining 

 enterprises will be insecure, and we can 

 have no assurance that that monster, the 

 dragon, who has now been cast down 

 before the Soldiers of the Cross, will not 

 again raise his head and bring about 

 another catastrophe similar to that which 

 has so lately horrified the world. 



SINGAN— THE PRESENT CAPITAL OF THE 

 CHINESE EMPIRE 



SINGAN owes to its position the dis- 

 tinction of being for at least the 

 fifth time the capital of the Chinese 

 Empire. The mountain valley in which 

 it is situated is marked out by .nature 

 to be the center of the national life. 

 Through it flows the Weiho, along whose 

 banks lies the great road which leads 



from northern China into Central Asia. 

 Near the city the river is joined by a 

 northern tributary, the Kingho, and 

 then, running east, it breaks through the 

 mountains by the "gate of Tung-kuan," 

 where there is a famous fortress of the 

 same name. This gives an easy access 

 to the eastern and coast provinces. In 



