In their wedding finery. The familiar geranium between shows that the Chinese have our flowers.
“Memorialist and his colleagues will do their best to keep order; but he requests that the throne direct the imperial princes and high officers in command of the Boxers to order arrested any brigands committing robberies. And that the same princes and high officers who command soldiers should see that amongst their corps also there are no false soldiers acting in their true character as bandits, committing acts of pillage.”
“June 28.—A censor having complained of acts of brigandage in the capital, we hereby command the princes and ministers in command of the Boxers to instruct their subordinates to arrest all guilty parties and execute them on the spot.”
“July 1.—Edict: General preparations are being made for war. Owing to telegraphic communication being interrupted, the courier service, which has fallen into disuse, must be revived. Yu Lu, viceroy of Chihli, is directed to send out courier spies in every direction to obtain exact information of the movements of our enemies.”
On the same date a second edict says:
“The members of the Boxer society began by taking as their motto, ‘Loyalty and courage.’ We consequently expected they would do great service in expelling the oppressors. But Peking and vicinity has witnessed many acts of wanton pillage and murder by bad characters pretending to be Boxers. If no strict distinction is drawn, internal dissension will be added to foreign war, and the state of the country will be unenviable.
“Tsai Hsun, in charge of the Boxers, is hereby ordered to keep the members of his organization in strict subjection to discipline, and to expel pretenders who are in the ranks only to make trouble. Bodies of brigands, of no matter what name, must be dealt with as brigands and have no mercy shown them.”
“July 27.—Edict: From the time of the propagation of foreign religions up to the present, there has been much ill-feeling between converts and non-converts. This is all the result of faulty administration on the part of the local officials, which has given rise to lasting feuds.
“The fact remains that converts are still the children of the empire, and among them are undoubtedly some good, worthy people, only they have been led into error by false doctrines, having been misled by the missionaries, and have committed many misdeeds. They still hold to their false beliefs, and an irreconcilable hatred has sprung up between the people and the converts.
