The German Emperor's reply was also dignified, though stern in
tone. He denounced the murder as "an abominable crime," and though rejoiced to believe that personally the Emperor of China had no part in it, or in the further acts of violence against the Legations, "the guilt of his advisers and his Government is all the greater." "Let them not deceive themselves, and think that they can effect atonement and gain forgiveness for their crime by the expiatory mission alone. That they can only do by regulating their future conduct in accordance with the dictates of international law and by tha customs of civilised peoples. If in future his Majesty the Emperor of China governs his great Empire strictly in the spirit of these dictates, his hope will be fulfilled; the sad con. sequences of the troubles of the past year will be overcome, and once again permanent relations of peace and friendship will be established between Germany and China." The rebuke is stately, and might produce some impression upon the Mandarins but that it will' be forgotten in their joy at the diplomatic defeat inflicted on their enemy' in the matter of the kow-tow. The entire incident will, we believe, increase the conceit of the ,Chinese, and their conviction that for the future if they only sit immovably still Europe will retire.
Previous page
