Show WHAT THE BOXERS ARE I Boxers is a roughandready translation trans-lation of the three Chinese characters Bomunlzed as E llo Chuan meaning ii in bald literalness righteousness har Jteralness pin mony lists They are the men who I I smite righteously on behalf of the true li harmony which exists between heaven l und earth They would exterminate all il who do not take the Confucian thcpry 11 of the universe Foreigners with their strange doctrine and religions their outlandish ways and fearsome magic I have disturbed this harmony The men that smite with the righteous list propose to set the universe in order by driving out the hairyfaced blueeyed aliens One knowing the condition of things In China wonders neither at the frequency fre-quency of riots nor at the rapidity with 1 which vast crowds can assemble under fanatical and bigoted leaders Peaceable Peace-able and lawabiding citizens are suddenly sud-denly transformed Into yelling nnd infuriated in-furiated monsters of destruction The average Chinaman Jacks the power oft of-t thinking us an Individual Ho nets In mobs and hordes Ignorant of the commonest i com-monest facts ot science such us our Jg children arc familiar with ho ia credulous credu-lous to an extent which It is hard for I us to conceive Seeing the foreignerH vvomlorworking engines machines I I lenses medicine and surgery he imagines Ii im-agines him gifted with magical and a malevolent powers Being as credulous as they are Ignorant the populace need I only I few shrewd fellows to play upon their fears and to arouse their Biiper atltlon and fanaticism Hence the rapld rlsd of the Boxers wh havo spread over the northern provinces and threaten the very ata blllly of the Government Whether as usual the mighty mass of bigotry and fanaticism will melt before the onset of the determined men of thQ West or whether like a prairie Ire It will sweep over tho empire and probably overthrow over-throw the effete dynasty In Poking are questions which no man at tho present ii moment can answer Unfortunately the disturbed district Is I pretty thickly I dotted with American mission station doted troops sent to face lie Boxers have flown like chaff before iho wind or have openly Joined their enemies ene-mies It may be that as unexpectedly as Uncle Sam walked Into Cuba and tho Philippines he may now be called Phlppnes sr on to take a hand In rebuilding China Leslies Weekly |