A Familiar Letter to Personal Friends. China mission appeal letter by [China; Missionary; Boxer Rebellion] Pierson, Isaac - 1879

Boston, 1879. Very good condition. An appeal from an American Congregational mission at Pao Ting Fu, China (now Baoding), in the period leading up to the Boxer Rebellion, in which Rev. Pierson introduces a new colleague whose actions following the Rebellion ignited a major debate in the United States.

William S. Ament (1859 - 1909), the new colleague, was vilified by Mark Twain as part of the imperialist action to seize Chinese assets, when he sought indemnities for destroyed mission property from the local Chinese people. Twain believed the missionaries in China served as a front for American imperialism; Ament had in fact been arrested by French and German troops in China and charged with attempting to extort money from the local villagers.

However, during the Rebellion itself and the attacks on foreigners, Ament acted bravely: he personally travelled alone and unarmed to Tungchow, rescuing the missionaries and Chinese staff there. In Beijing he moved provisions from the Methodist compound to the British legation, which enabled the people there to survive the long siege.

8vo, 4pp. Printed in Boston and distributed September 6, 1879. Period folds; Faint tide mark lower corner. OCLC: 31344495 (3 copies).