was, therefore, the expression of a sincere heart and not a mere expression of modesty.  My fear was such that I could not but utter the words which I have expressed.  The people, however, have viewed with increasing impatience that declaration and their expectation of me is now more pressing than ever.  Thus I find myself unable to offer further argument just as I am unable to escape the position.  The laying of a great foundation is, however, a thing of paramount importance and it must not be done in a hurry.  I, therefore, order that the different Ministries and Bureaux take concerted action in making the necessary preparations in the affairs in which they are concerned; and when that is done, let the same be reported to me for promulgation.  Meanwhile all our citizens should go on peacefully in their daily vocations with the view to obtain mutual benefit.  Let not your doubts and suspicions hinder you in your work.  All the officials should on their part be faithful at their posts and maintain to the best of their ability peace and order in their localities, so that the ambition of the Great President to work for the welfare of the people may thus be realized.  Besides forwarding the memorial of the principal representatives of the Convention of the Representatives of Citizens and that of the provinces and special administrative area to the Cheng Shih Tang and publishing the same by a mandate, I have the honour to notify the acting Li Fan Yuan as the principal representatives of the Convention of the Representatives of Citizens, to this effect.

Cautious to the end, it will be seen that Yuan Shih-kai’s very acceptance is so worded as to convey the idea that he is being forced to a course of action which is against his better instincts.  There is no word of what came to be called the Grand Ceremony, i.e. the enthronement.  That matter is carefully left in abeyance and the government departments simply told to make the necessary preparations.  The attitude of Peking officialdom is well-illustrated in a circular telegram dispatched to the provinces three days later, the analysis of Japan’s relationship to the Entente Powers being particularly revealing.  The obsequious note which pervades this document is also particularly noticeable and shows how deeply the canker of sycophancy had now eaten in.

    CODE TELEGRAM DATED DECEMBER 14, 1915, FROM THE OFFICE OF
    COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF OF THE LAND AND NAVAL FORCES, RESPECTING CHINA’S
    ATTITUDE TOWARDS FOREIGN NATIONS

    To the Military and Civil Governors of the Provinces:—­

    (To be deciphered with the Hua Code)