These cries were taken up and echoed on all sides.
In the middle of the open space between the Mission and the river—now filled by the mob—a band of Taoist monks had congregated, mingling their weird cries and clash of their cymbals with noises about them, and there rose above all the rest a plaintive falsetto shriek:
“Disasters come upon the Middle Kingdom.
Foreign devils disturb the country.
They urge the people to join their religion.
No Gods they venerate.
Their backs they turn on Heaven.
They teach men to debase their ancestors.
Human obligations they hate.
They force women to adultery.