instinct was the ability to misrepresent in a
convincing way the actions and arguments of your opponents and to profit
by their mistakes--not that it is a mighty impulse which can re-make
nations. The Republic was declared by the actions of Western bureaucrats
to be a Republic _pour rire_, not a serious thing; and by this false and
cruel assumption they killed Yuan Shih-kai.

If that epitaph is written on his political tombstone, it will be as
full of blinding truth as is only possible with Last Things.

FOOTNOTES:

[20] The incident of Chen-chiao is very celebrated in Chinese annals. A
yellow robe, the symbol of Imperial authority, was thrown around General
Chao Kuang-ying, at a place called Chen-chiao, by his soldiers and
officers when he commanded a force ordered to the front. Chao returned
to the Capital immediately to assume the Imperial Throne, and was thus
"compelled" to become the founder of the famous Sung dynasty.

The "incident of Yuyang" refers to the execution of Yang Kuei-fei, the
favourite concubine of Emperor Yuan Tsung of the Tang dynasty. The
Emperor for a long time was under the alluring influence of Yang
Kuei-fei, who had a paramour named An Lo-hsan. The latter finally
rebelled against the Emperor. The Emperor left the capital and proceeded
to another place together with his favourite concubine, guarded by a
large force of troops. Midway, however, the soldiers threatened to rebel
unless the concubine was killed on the spot. The clamour was such that
the Emperor was forced to sacrifice the favourite of his harem, putting
her to death in the presence of his soldiers.

CHAPTER XIV

THE NEW REGIME,--FROM 1916 TO 1917

Within an hour of the death of Yuan Shih-kai, the veteran General Tuan
Chi-jui, in his capacity of Secretary of State, had called on
Vice-President Li Yuan-hung--the man whom years before he had been sent
to the Yangtsze to bring captive to Peking--and welcomed him as
President of the Republic. At one o'clock on the same day the Ministers
of the Allied Powers who had hastily assembled at the Waichiaopu
(Foreign Office), were informed that General Li Yuan-hung had duly
assumed office and that the peace and security of the capital were fully
guaranteed. No unrest of any sort need be apprehended; for whilst
rumours would no doubt circulate wildly as soon as the populace realized
the tragic nature of the climax which had come the Gendarmerie Corps and
the Metropolitan Police--t