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 Minister Denby, who from his long official residence in China was the most competent judge, in a dispatch to the Department of State, said of the missionaries, "that their influence is beneficial to the natives; that the arts and sciences and civilization are greatly spread by their efforts; that many useful Western books are translated by them into Chinese; and that they are the leaders in all charitable work. … In the interest, therefore, of civilization, missionaries ought not only to be tolerated, but ought to receive protection." Their claim to protection and their useful service to China had been recognized by imperial edicts, but these could not, in the eyes of the people, change their character as odious foreigners.

Acareful examination will show that missions were far from being the chief cause of the disturbances of 1900. From the foregoing chapters it has been seen that the principal object of securing intercourse with the East by the Christian nations has been the introduction and extension of commerce. On its account China had time and again suffered war and great humiliation at the hands of powerful European nations. The unwelcome traffic in opium had spread its baleful effects throughout the whole land. The establishment of lines of steamships and the construction of railroads