457 



The Revolution in China and its Reputed Guiding Spirit: 



DR. SUM YAT-SEN. 



MANY tributes to the "Cliiivse Garibaldi," as 

 he has bten called by one of those who know 

 him best, have appt ared both in the ]>ritish 

 and the Chinese Press. What is most remarkable 

 about them is their unanimity. All the writers agree 

 in trusting, praising, and adiiiirinL' l^r Sun YatS-n. 

 Not one of them 

 does he seem to have 

 in^pred with a ft el- 

 inij; of either distrust 

 or contempt. .Alt 

 take him seriously. 

 On his head a price 

 of ^{^'50,000 is set, 

 has been set for long 

 past. Yet according 

 t5 a person d friend, 

 the writer of an ex- 

 cellent notice of the 

 Doctor in the //Vj/- 

 ininster Gazelle, "Sun 

 Yat-Sen carries his 

 life in his hand with- 

 out the least trace 

 of nervousness." 



" His disguises," 

 continues the writer, 

 " are so successful 

 as to deceive even 

 his closest friends. 

 .As a propagandist his 

 methods have rarely 

 been equalled — never 

 surpassed. No one 

 ever suspected in 

 I'^aslern seas that the 

 cjuiel, silent, commer- 

 cial traveller, wearing 

 blue spectacles, with 

 his heavy b'ggage 

 of trade samples la- 

 belled ''I'adeshi Oka- 

 mura and Co., Gene- 

 ral Merchants and 

 Commission Agents, 

 Yokohama,' was no 

 less a personage than 

 the Doctor 'on tour,' 

 Here was the clevir 

 'Japanese' bagman 



pusliing bis wares in every nook antl corner of the 

 Malay Peninsula, visiling Chinese firms, explaining 

 the ailvantages of this new patent hook and eye or 

 safety pin to the adjiiiring sh;)p a^^istants who crowded 

 round the traveller with bis novelties in babcrdasheiy 

 from the United .Slates of .America, Ijigland, and 



ritott^grnffh hy} 



Dr. Sim Yat-Sen. 



Japan. .And all the while he was wfnning adherents 

 to the great cause to which he has devoted his life 

 and dedicated his magnificent talents." 



The same writer sums up the general opinion of 

 other IJritish writers as to Dr. Sun by saying that he 

 has laiil liis great campaign for Chinese freedom on 



solid foundations, the 

 four corner-stones of 

 his work being " un- 

 selfishness, patriot- 

 ism, courage, capa- 

 city." This writer, 

 like all others, seems 

 to agree as to Sun 

 Yat-Sen being a 

 quiet, calm, practical 

 man, no dreamer of 

 \ isions, no waver of 

 wild h a n d s, a n d 

 above all no self- 

 seeking adventurer, 

 whose first thought 

 is bitnself. A writer 

 in the Daily Mail, 

 who signs himself a 

 " British Sy m pa- 

 thisir," and who met 

 1 iiii • in \'ictoria, 

 IS.C, considers his 

 iiilliieiice to be due, 

 not to jiersonal mag- 

 netism or great ora- 

 torical power, but to 

 strong common-sense 

 and deep devotion to 

 his country and 

 countryinen — " patri- 

 otism," in short, as 

 the writer fiist i[uoted 

 put It. He listened 

 10 the Doctor ad- 

 dressing a number 

 ff Chinese in their 

 own language, and 

 was struck by the 

 fact that he di.sdained 

 all the "little oratori 

 cal tricks dear to 

 ordinary agitators." 

 He simply 5;:ivc to his 

 aiKlicncc, csaclly as lie gave ti> me, a long, wcll-rcisoned, 

 and carefully Ihoir^jlit out slalement of China''; fuffiTings, 

 and ilu'n added liis pinpnsals for reform. 



This, considering that the Chinaman is not very 

 emotional, and appreciates common-sense and (jHtel 

 logic far mon- than im|)assioned appeals or oratory of 



\Elli:>ll mill Ity. 



