The causes of the outbreak 'ere misgovernment and the rising
desire of the Chinese to assert themselves and to put an end to the tyranny of the Manchu dynasty and the Manchu
oligarchy. The leader, inspirer, and organizer of the insur- rection is said to be Sun-Tat Sen, the Chinese doctor who some fifteen years ago was kidnapped in Portland Place and only rescued by the intervention of the British Government. (His life indeed may be said to have been saved by the inter- vention—to use Lord Salisbury's phrase—of "the British housemaid" who conveyed a message placed by the prisoner in the coal-scuttle to her "young man," through whom it ultimately reached the Prime Minister.) The object of the in- surrection is said to be to found a republic with Dr. Sun-Tat Sen as President. Happily there does not seem any great fear of the insurgents attacking foreigners, massacring Christians, or interfering with commerce. Dr. Sun-Tat Sen is stated to be a Christian, and as a man of European education and liberal ideas he will certainly not desire to encourage action that will produce foreign intervention. At the same time, however good the intentions of the insurgent leaders, pro- longed disorder must be dangerous to the foreigners scattered throughout the Empire. It is possible, of course, that the Peking Government may be able to re-assert itself, but cer- tainly the present insurrection is far more formidable than any that has taken place within the last forty years.
