(6) Allot our subjects, officials and Ministers must acknowledge that we have tried in every way to advance our Empire and make her strong and wealthy by the inauguration of reforms. We never, however, expected to find the 3rd' class Board Secretary, Kang Vu-wei, take advantage of these steps to ' consummate his evil and treacherous plans of subverting this dynasty and that he dared, the other day, in prosecution of his nefarious designs toconspire to surround Eho Park, capture and exile the persons of the Empress Dowager and ourself. Fortunately the conspiracy was found out in time by us and at once set at naught We hear also that the conspirators established the Patriotic Association—Pao-Kuocipal tenets Using that "in dotedding wui—for their purpose, one of their pri
the Empire they were defending the country of China and not the Manchu dynasty!" All know that we try to rule this Empire by our filial piety towards the Empress-Dowager; but K'ang Vu-wei's doctrines have always been opposed to the ancient Confucian tenets. Owing, however, to the ability shown by the said K'ang Vu-wei in modern and i practical matters we sought to take advantage of it by appointing him a Secretary of the Tsungli Yamen, ard subsequently ordered him to Shanghai to direct the management of the official newspaper there. Instead of this, however, he dared still to remain in' Peking pursuing his nefarious designs ist the dynasty, and had it not been for the protection given by the spirits of our ancestors he certainly would have succeeded. K'ang Vu-wei is therefore the arch conspirator and his chief assistant is the M. A. Liang Ch'i-tsao, and they are both to be immediately arrested and punished for the crime of rebellion. The other principal conspirators, namely, the Censor Yang Shén-hsin, the brother of K ang Vu-wei,—K ang Kunng-jn—and the four Tsungli Yamen secretaries Tan Sze-tung, Lin Hsié, Yang Jui and Hukuang-ti, we immediately ordered to be arrested and imprisoned by the Board of Punishments; but fearing that if any delay ensued in sentencing' them they would endeavour to entangle a number of others, we accordingly commanded yesterday (28th September) their immediate execution so as to close the matter entirely and prevent further troubles.
[Note:—The first of the above-named Tsungli Yamen Secretaries was the eldest son of H.E. T'an Chi-hsun, Governor of Hupeh, an exceedingly bright and talented young official.)
Peking, 30th September.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.