Page:China and the Manchus.djvu/153

Rh Chʽing's reign the palace conspiracy of Lin Ching dismayed that monarch in his capital. These events were followed by rebellions in Ssŭ-chʽuan and Shensi; under Tao Kuang and his successor the Tʽai-pʽings started their campaign from a remote Kuangsi village. Although these worthy causes were destined to ultimate defeat, the gradual trend of the national will became manifest. At last our own era dawned, the sun of freedom had risen, and a sense of the rights of the race animated men's minds. In addition the Manchu bandits could not even protect themselves. Powerful foes encroached upon the territory of China, and the dynasty parted with our sacred soil to enrich neighbouring nations. The Chinese race of to-day may be degenerate, but it is descended from mighty men of old. How should it endure that the spirits of the great dead should be insulted by the everlasting visitation of this scourge?

"Then did patriots arise like a whirlwind, or like a cloud which is suddenly manifested in the firmament. They began with the Canton insurrection; then Peking was alarmed by Wu Yüeh's bomb (1905). A year later Hsü Hsi-lin fired his bullet into the vitals of the Manchu robber-chief, En Ming, Governor of Anhui. Hsiung Chêng-chi raised the standard of liberty on the Yang-tsze's banks; rising followed rising all over the empire, until the secret plot against the Regent was discovered, and the abortive