A CHINESE ROMANCE.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 508, 15 May 1909, Page 11

A CHINESE ROMANCE.

PROM FOUNDLING BOY TO NAVAL COMMANDER. : In a spcech to the Authors' Club in London, Sir Robert Hart told a strange story about tho custom of infanticide in China. A good many years ago, he said, a Consular doctor and his wife were walking at Amoy: as .they passed a dung-heap the lady erifed out, "Oh, Charlie, Charlie, what is that?" and pointed to a small matted package from which a tiny finger protruded, and was'seen to be moving • they took up the packago, opened it, and found a baby boy, howly born evidently, inside; they took the baby home and reared it, and afterwards on a visit home to Scotland took the child with them, and fave it some education; in 1856 that Consular octor came to; Ningpo as Consul, when I was ail assistant in the Consulate, and they_ had with them as under-butler a fine, bright, healthy lad 'of 13 or 14; this was ' the cnila in question. _ Later on they left China, and got tho lad a good billet as steward on an English gunhis name was Leo Buah. Still later on the Chinese' Government sought to create a navy, and, wanting men of naval experience, they made Lee a oommandor, and gave him a fine steam corvette to take charge of. I once visited his ship at Canton, and, found all in excellent condition. Soon afterwards he was caught in a typhoon, and the vessel broke hor back and went down; but some of tho crew escaped, himself among them, and lie was then condemned to death, but forgiven, for losing his vessel. He was then given command of one of the "Mosquito Squadron" ' boats, built by Arm-, strong, and; he was at the Pagoda anchorage, Foochow, in 1884, when Admiral Courbet destroyed the Chinese fleet, in port. Lee, knowing his:, little craft was no • match: for such vessels, escaped up a shallow-water creek, and saved himself, vessel, and crew; for this—for saving his ship,' and not dying with his oomrades of the fleet—he was again condemned to death, bnt, as the Commander-in-Chief, Chang Poi Lun, a son-in-law ,of Li Hung Chang, was-also, condemned to death and. respited, with a-sentence of three years' banishment, and hard labour, Lee Buah' waß similarly treated, 'and'in 1888, his banishment ended, he visited mo in Peking, and gave me an interesting .account of his various experiences. , •

After that ho got. some other official appointment of a novel kind, and did well in it.' : He.'brought up'a family of sons, and they did ivell ; too,' being successful at 'the literary examinations..'" ' Such is the history of a baby boy' exposed by his Chinese parents for.death 1 in 1842' at Amoy, ,aud roscucd.and reared by a British Consular official; but; of course, in most other cases exposed children have no second chance—and .vet there are outside possibilities, for. the Cliinoso themselves have foundling Hospitals, and so have the Catholio missions, and many waifs and strays find exist-once thus assured for them.