What the French Investigators Discovered

9/12/2025

By M.P. Pellicer | Stranger Than Fiction Stories
In 1901, a group of French investigators claimed they discovered that the "Boxer atrocities in China were not instigated by the Manchus," but were the result of deliberate machinations of American and European satanists.

Boxer soldiers c.1900

THE BOXER REBELLION

The Boxers were a Chinese secret society dating back to the 17th century. In 1747, they were responsible for Jesuits being expelled from China. The Boxers preached anti-western beliefs. According to them all foreigners were first class devils, Chinese who were Christian converts were second-class devils, and those who worked for any foreigner were third-class devils.

The Boxers believed in magic and were superstitious. They thought their spells could protect them from western bullets.

During the Boxer Rebellion as a whole, a total of 136 Protestant missionaries and 53 children were killed, and 47 Catholic priests and nuns, 30,000 Chinese Catholics, 2,000 Chinese Protestants, and 200 to 400 of the 700 Russian Orthodox Christians in Beijing were estimated to have been killed. Collectively, the Protestant dead were called the China Martyrs of 1900. The Boxers went on to murder Christians across 26 prefectures.

Hundreds of foreigners and Christian converts were slaughtered by the Boxers in China c.1900

According to these investigators, despite tales that cults who worship satan almost always have a French background, the headquarters of the Luciferians were in the United States and Britain. They mentioned Charleston, South Carolina as a "hotbed of depravity and wickedness". They alleged that devil worshipping cults had their origin in Freemasonry, and all the members belonged to the Masonic order.

The connection between Charleston and cults of devil worshippers was Albert Pike, who was based out of this city, where he served as Grand Commander of the Supreme Council of the Thirty-Third Degree for the Southern Jurisdiction from 1859 until his death in 1891. He is buried within the walls of the 33rd degree headquarters in Charleston, an honor unique to him. A statue of Pike, honoring him as a leader of the Scottish Rite, stands on federal property in Washington, D.C., near the Capitol Hill area. Some sources describe him as a satanist who practiced occult rituals and believed in Lucifer as a central figure of a pure philosophic religion.

Skulls, skeletons and corpses have always figured visibly in the history of black magic. "If the remains of a saint can be obtained the satanist can do almost anything, even call up the Prince of the Infernal Regions himself." However at the turn of the 20th century, saints were scarce. The next best thing were ministers of the Gospel or missionaries. Their earnest character and willingness to self-sacrifice making them very desirable.

According to the investigators in 1891, a certain Dr. Bataille who was formerly a ship's surgeon on board the Anadyr, which belonged to the Campagnie des Messageries Maritimes, told the story of an Italian named Gaetano Carbuccio. He was made a Mason in Naples by Giambattista Pessina "most illustrious sovereign commander, past grand master and grand hierophant of the Antique and Oriental Rite of Memphis and Misraim" which for 200 francs more allowed Carbuccio to enter the 33rd grade of the "sublime mystery" and for a 15 francs annually was made a grand commander of the temple.

One day the ship was enroute to Europe from China and anchored at Point de Galle in southern Ceylon. A few passengers came on board from this port, one which was an Italian named Gaetano Carbuccio (Carbuccia). His trade was dealing in curiosities, and in the course of his work he made several voyages on the Anadyr.

According to Dr. Bataille, Carbuccio's appearance had changed drastically. In a few months he had become a feeble and emaciated man. The doctor asked what happened, and Carbuccio told him that he was a damned man. It started when he was persuaded to become a Mason at Naples, and he was initiated into the most secret degrees.

One trip took him to Calcutta, and he found the Free Masons of the city in a state of 'intense excitement.' The cause of it was their success in obtaining from China, the skulls of three martyred missionaries, which they planned to use in a magical rite.

'The rite had been composed by General Albert Pike of Charleston, South Carolina and the skulls had been obtained by George Shekleton.'

Carbuccio attended the rite and described where skulls were placed on a table and invocations were called out.

'There was a shock of earthquake, a noise as of thunder, a blinding light and then the devil appeared and sat in the Grand Master's chair. He was clothed in a sort of rosy flush, nothing else, and was about 38 years of age with an expression of infinite but charming melancholy.'

Before he disappeared he shook hands with Shekleton who had procured the skulls. Suddenly the man yelled, there was an electric shock and darkness descended in the chamber. The devil had departed and Shekleton was dead. After witnessing the scene, Carbuccio felt he was beyond the help of heaven.

Dr. Bataille assured him he was not, and decided to investigate diabolism on his own. Many of his findings were similar to what A. E. Waite described in his book Devil Worship in France.

Tien Tsin after the destruction of the cathedral and surrounding buildings c.1871

In the 1890s there is reference to George Shekleton as being an assistant to Mr. Crisp, a pawnbroker, which is how he might have crossed paths with Gaetano Carbuccio who dealt in curiosities.

The steamer Anadyr was plying the route between Marseilles and the Orient since the 1870s. It sank in July, 1889 on the Aden bar in the Red Sea after a collision.

An ex-attaché wrote of an experience he had while traveling on the ship, which explained the Boxer Rebellion was not the first time religious members were murdered.

After 1870, a number of monks, priests and sisters of Mercy sailed from Marseilles to China to take the place of those who had been put to death during the Tien Tsin massacre of 1870. When they arrived at Saigon the capital of French Cochin China a young French priest who was dying was carried on board. He was 27 years old, but all his hair had gone white. He had been a missionary at the Chinese border. He was seized and shut up for the space of 2 years in a wooden cage in which he couldn't lie down or sit up. His eyes were burned out and wooden wedges were forced between each toe and each finger. He was tortured to the edge of death, but never allowed to die. Prior to his death on the ship he told of what he had endured.

Belgian Railway employees after escape from Boxers. Taken at Belgian Consulate, Tien Tsin . Belgians who had been in interior manning stations of Belgian built RR. They were smuggled out at night during Boxer uprisings, aided by friendly Chinese c.1900

THE TIEN TSIN MASSACRE OF 1870

The Tien Tsin massacre (aka Tianjin Massacre) was caused by violent anti-Christian sentiment that occurred in Tianjin, China on June 21, 1870. It was sparked by unfounded, but widespread rumors that French Catholic missionaries, in particular the Sisters of Charity who were said to be kidnapping Chinese children in order to harvest their eyes for use in medicine. This was fueled by the practice of baptizing very ill infants.

A mob attacked the French consulate and the Catholic mission buildings. A total of 60 people died including 10 nuns who were raped and mutilated before being killed. The Tientsin Cathedral was burned down along with other buildings.

Under pressure, the Qing government executed 16 Chinese who were deemed responsible, and 400,000 taels were paid to France along with an apology. This incident marked a turning point in relations between the West and China and contributed to the Boxer Rebellion.

Peking's foreign community had to fight against thousands of Boxers until a multi-national army came to their rescue. The security at the Legation Quarter came about after the slaughter of thousands of missionaries and Chinese Christians.

In 1937, Pamela Werner the daughter of an English professor was mutilated and murdered. Her body was dumped near the Fox Tower outside the Legation Quarter. Her murder was never solved.