King; in 1910 a plot was unearthed at Canton. Many returned students and bright young men sacrificed their lives in these attempts; but repeated failure only helped to arouse the public sentiment of the people and contributed to popularise revolutionary actions.

It was generally admitted, however, that the Szechuan riot had no other signification than a movement against the nationalization of railways and that of Changsha was a protest against the rice monopoly. No one has been able to ascertain the object of the bomb thrown at the five commissioners when they started from Peking to investigate into the constitutional governments of the world. The fear that the adoption of a constitution by the Manchu government might defeat the cause of the anti-Manchu movement has been considered as the most plausible interpretation. There is no necessity for us to analyze all these preliminary plots. Suffice it to say, the ramifications of the secret societies were rapidly being extended throughout the country.

The leaders of the revolution intended to start it simultaneously in eight provinces, four months later than the actual date of the outbreak. The modus operandi and the personnel were fully prepared; proclamations for the public and badges for adherents were made; secret parties were traveling about winning sympathizers and supporters. General Hwang Shing at Hankow, General Wu Loh-tsun of the Northern Army, Liu King and Sun Wu at Wuchang and Chen Ki Mei at Shanghai were the chief leaders from Japan. General Li Yuan Hung from Japan played the most important part, but he was forced to join by the soldiery.

Very few students from Europe and America were members of the "Tung Men Hwei," and judging from their actions only Mr. C. T. Wang, Drs. Chen Hui Wang and Chintao Chen from Yale were the only possible ones, while the rest were taken by surprise.

Not counting Dr. Sun Yat Sen, Dr. Wu Ting Fang was the first returned student from England or America who joined the revolutionary cause at a critical moment, and he was supported in the revolutionary camp by many returned

students from Europe and America. Some of them joined the Red Cross Society as M. D. T. Yu of Harvard and Yang Paoling of Purdue, while twenty of them returned from America to take an active part in fighting. For example, T. S. Ma of Columbia and E. M. Ho of Chicago University.

In passing, we must not fail to mention how the success of the revolution was in a great measure due to the sympathy of foreign nations. Judging from past experiences, uprisings in China were always associated in the minds of men with imminent danger to foreign lives and property; but during the last revolution, foreigners were most scrupulously protected, which fact won for the revolutionists, the confidence of the world, as it was clear evidence of intelligent leadership and superior organization.

It will be in order, perhaps, to give a comparative estimate of the parts played by the two groups of students showing why those from Japan were more energetic and revolutionary. The charge has been made against the returned students from Europe and America of being materialistic and self-seeking, and this charge has been repeated by some of the students themselves. Why more students in America did not join in the revolutionary movement before the revolution? The answer, I believe, is better made by presenting the causes and circumstances which made the students in Japan so radically revolutionary.

First of all, the chief cause was the environment. With some 15,000 students located in the few educational centers of Japan; with a steady stream of political news from China; with numerous organizations for discussion, with lively topics furnished by the revolutionary organs as the magazine -The New People-published by Liang Chi Chiao and The People by the "Tung Men Hwei," the revolutionary spirit was carefully nurtured. Moreover, the Chinese students could master the Japanese language in a few months, and as the curriculum was elementary, it was not too difficult for them. So that much of their time was spent discussing political questions and transcribing such views into Chinese for publication at home. Furthermore, this grouping together of a large body of young men with similar political

views made them feel the power of union, as the mob psychologist would say. That is why in California, Hawaii, Singapore and Java the like spirit is seen.

Secondly: they were mostly older students of the old school and well versed in Chinese literature. The Japanese curriculum offers courses on modern Chinese history, giving the details of the Manchurian conquest which would naturally tend to stir up anti-dynastic feelings. Moreover, the Japanese friends of China who still reverence the past history of China did advise, time and again, for the restoration of the government to the Chinese proper. During the time of the Boxer uprising, quite a number of Japanese writers counseled for the assassination of the imperial family while fleeing to Shensi. Besides, undoubtely the ultra-radical propensities and the military atmosphere of Japan exerted a great influence upon the temperament of these earnest students. So likewise, the liberal atmosphere of France instilled revolutionary ideas and military Germany gave a martial spirit to students studying in those two countries.

Lastly: Japan's high-handed actions in Korea and Manchuria together with the general attitude of the Japanese towards the Chinese, stirred their blood to boiling point, while a study of Japan's recent history, dates their modern era of progress to the restoration of the Meiji House. Hence, their logical deduction led them to pin their faith upon a revolution for a new China. By tracing the transition of medieval Japan into modern Japan they could almost map out step by step the course China should take; but the first step according to their conception, was a change of government. Besides, a large number of them were poor and had to undergo a great deal of hardship and privation. Loving their fatherland strongly, desiring to save her from a great national calamity and having nothing to lose personally, they became a vociferous, destructive and desperately revolutionary body of men.

On the other hand, in Europe and America, the handful of students was scattered over large areas; news from home was scanty with long intervals between; the difficulties with the language and the exacting curriculum occupied much of

their time; there were no revolutionary organizations or organs to furnish exciting topics for discussion. When authentic news arrived, it was about a month old and later developments might have already changed the situation, with the result that students could only speculate as to the outcome. That was why the students in Japan sent far more telegrams to the Government advising certain courses of action on great political issues than did the students in Europe and America.

In the second place, most of the students here are younger and the technical courses taken by a large number of them in engineering, agriculture and other professional studies, are not conducive to revolutionary conceptions The wide difference in languages and comparatively poorer scholarship in Chinese literature, make it impossible to transcribe any of our new ideas readily into Chinese for publication in China. Then, the local political conditions pursue an even tenor, the commercial spirit is transcendent, and the constructive element is based upon educational, social and religious reformation.

No professors or friends were sufficiently versed in Chinese literature and history to advise a revolution which might endanger the lives and property of all their missionary friends and other foreign residents in China. The Christian influence and missionary interest point to a goal of evolutionary development and Christian service to our country. Under such circumstances, in our more liberal students there has been built a broader and deeper personality adapted for slower constructive work.

In the last place, the cold reception of the earlier returned students given by the government and people at home, does not lead us to expect any large following upon our immediate return as any revolutionary course of action would necessitate. We would have to vindicate ourselves by deeds and action that we are not semi-foreigners but as sincerely and deeply interested in the welfare of our country and people as any others who are loud in denunciation and quick in popularising the knowledge acquired. Besides of the 800 students in America and the 400 in Europe, 250 here and

about 200 on the other side are government students and sons of influential officials who would not desire to be left stranded in distant lands by premature iconoclastic expressions which would not materially help the cause. They had too much to lose and little to gain. Quite a large percentage of them, approximately 50 per cent, received their earlier training in missionary schools and their views have been tempered by the element of service which could be performed under any circumstances. Moreover, the contrast seen between the conditions in the west and those of China is greater than that between Japan and China; consequently the problems thy aim to solve are deeper rooted, and a change of government-desirable if it could be accomplished without endangering too much the status quo, is not the sine qua non for the modernization of China. That is why the students in the west would have liked to see a constitutional government through a peaceful reformation rather than a republic via a revolution.

Nevertheless, while the greater part of the destructive work was done by the larger body of students from Japan, as soon as the students from Europe and America saw the desperate situation, they all heartily joined the cause, for they saw the die was cast, the Rubicon was crossed, and no alternative was possible. Some twenty-five students returned from America and about the same number went from Europe, while Japan emptied her whole consignment into the cauldron. The students in America declared themselves for the Republic through the columns of The Chinese Students' Monthly, the official organ of the Students' Alliance in February of 1912 in an announcement which read in part as follows:

It might seem as if the student body here has not declared its interest in the political controversy of vast consequences early enough, but that evidently has been due to the lack of first hand information, the deliberate nature of our students, the indefiniteness of the revolutionary leaders, and more especially the one-sided statements of the newspapers in this country. However, our sympathy has always been with the revolutionaries, for they represent the progressive cause that will ultimately render it possible for China to come to her own. In the meantime, the provisional