clusion of my
own home and participate in the blessings of an age of peace.

But once again my fellow-countrymen honoured me with the pressing
request that I should again assume a heavy burden, and on the day on
which the Republic was proclaimed I announced to the whole nation
that never again should a monarchy be permitted in China. At my
inauguration I again took this solemn oath in the sight of heaven
above and earth beneath. Yet of late ignorant persons in the
provinces have fabricated wild rumours to delude men's minds, and
have adduced the career of the First Napoleon on which to base their
erroneous speculations. It is best not to inquire as to their
motives; in some cases misconception may be the cause, in others
deliberate malice.

The Republic has now been proclaimed for six months; so far there
is no prospect of recognition from the Powers, while order is far
from being restored in the provinces. Our fate hangs upon a hair;
the slightest negligence may forfeit all. I, who bear this arduous
responsibility, feel it my bounden duty to stand at the helm in the
hope of successfully breasting the wild waves.

But while those in office are striving with all their might to
effect a satisfactory solution, spectators seem to find a difficulty
in maintaining a generous forbearance. They forget that I, who have
received this charge from my countrymen, cannot possibly look
dispassionately on when the fate of the nation is in the balance. If
I were aware that the task was impossible and played a part of easy
acquiescence, so that the future of the Republic might become
irreparable, others might not reproach me, but my own conscience
would never leave me alone.

My thoughts are manifest in the sight of high heaven. But at this
season of construction and dire crisis how shall these mutual
suspicions find a place? Once more I issue this announcement; if
you, my fellow countrymen, do indeed place the safety of China
before all other considerations, it behooves you to be large-minded.
Beware of lightly heeding the plausible voice of calumny, and of
thus furnishing a medium for fostering anarchy. If evilly disposed
persons, who are bent on destruction, seize the excuse for sowing
dissension to the jeopardy of the situation, I, Yuan Shih-kai, shall
follow the behest of my fellow-c