s the capital of the country and the center of its
Administration.

Among the causes which contributed to the success of the revolution
were the inability of the north to obtain loans from outside, and the
pressure, both direct and indirect, exerted upon both parties by
foreign Powers. Both of these causes were important, the latter
especially so. The action of Russia with respect to Mongolia, and of
Japan with regard to Manchuria, alarmed patriotic Chinese, led them to
fear that foreign interference might not be confined to these
territories, and to dread that the result would be the disintegration
of the country. Under the Manchus they had seen the loss of Korea, the
Liaotung, Formosa, and, in a sense, of Manchuria itself; they were
apprehensive of German designs in Shantung, of Japanese in Fuhkien. The
feeling that the country was in danger helped both sides to be of one
mind. But the pressure from the outside was not all of this sinister
sort; friendly representations from the genuinely well-disposed Powers
did a good deal to bring the combatants to a mutual understanding. But
throughout the revolution, as in the final result, the great
outstanding, commanding figure was Yuan Shih-kai himself. Evidently a
man of great gifts, he knew how and when to yield and how and when to
be firm; the compromise which solved the situation--at all events, for
the time--was mostly his work; statesman and patriot, he saved his
country. And it will always redound to his credit that he can not be
charged with faithlessness to the Manchus, for he did all that was
possible for them, standing by them to the last. By retaining the
"Emperor" as the priestly head of the nation, _pater patriae_,
according to Chinese ideas, he has left something to the Manchus and at
the same time contrived that the republican form of government shall
bring as slight a shock to "immemorial China" as can be imagined.

What does this "immemorial China"--meaning thereby the great bulk of
the Chinese, the un-Westernized Chinese--think of the republic? In
other words, is the republic likely to last? What sort of republic will
it probably be, viewing the situation as it stands? At one of the early
stages of the revolution Yuan Shih-kai stated that only three-tenths of
his countrymen were in favor of a republic--in itself, however, a
considerable proportion of the population; now that the republic is in
existence, will it be accepted tranquilly by the rest? The majo