That disastrous recoil resulted in war,
not against a single power, but against the whole civilised world,
as has been set forth in the account of the Boxer War (see page
172).
Affairs were drifting into this desperate predicament when Chang
of the Cavern became in a sense the saviour of his country. This
he effected by two actions which called for uncommon intelligence
and moral force: (1) By assuring the British Government that he
would at all costs maintain peace in Central China; (2) by refusing
to obey an inhuman decree from Peking, commanding the viceroys to
massacre all foreigners within their jurisdiction--a decree which
would be incredible were it not known that at the same moment the
walls of the capital were placarded with proclamations offering
rewards of 50, 30 and 20
[Page 227]
taels respectively for the heads of foreign men, women, and children.
It is barely possible that Chang was helped to a decision by a
friendly visit from a British man-of-war, whose captain, in answer
to a question about his artillery, informed Chang that he had the
bearings of his official residence, and could drop a shell into
it with unerring precision at a distance of three miles. He was
also aided by the influence of Mr. Fraser, a wide-awake British
consul. Fraser modestly disclaims any special merit in the matter,
but British missionaries at Hankow give him the credit. They say
that, learning from them the state of feeling among the people, he
induced the viceroy to take prompt measures to prevent an outbreak.
Pages:
210
211
212
213
214
215
216
217
218
219
220
221
222
223
224
225
226
227
228
229
230
231
232
233
234