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We now come to what is said to have been a secret edict issued by
the Empress Dowager to her viceroys, governors, Tartar generals
and the commanders-in-chief of the provinces, dated November 21,
1899. And this I regard as one of the greatest and most daring
things that great woman ever undertook.
After the Empress Dowager had taken the throne, Italy, following
the example set by the other powers, demanded the cession of
Sanmen Bay in the province of Chekiang. But she found a different
ruler on the throne, and to her great surprise, as well as that
of every one else, China returned a stubborn refusal. Moreover,
she began to prepare to resist the demand, and it soon became
evident that to obtain it, Italy must go to war. This she had not
the stomach for and so the demand was withdrawn. This explanation
will go far towards helping us to understand the following secret
edict of November 21st, to which I have already referred.
"Our empire is now labouring under great difficulties which are
becoming daily more and more serious. The various Powers cast
upon us looks of tiger-like voracity, hustling each other in
their endeavours to be the first to seize upon our innermost
territories. They think that China, having neither money nor
troops, would never venture to go to war with them. They fail to
understand, however, that there are certain things that this
empire can never consent to, and that, if hardly pressed upon, we
have no alternative but to rely upon the justice of our cause,
the knowledge of which in our breasts strengthens our resolves
and steels us to present a united front against our aggressors
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