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The excerpt represents the core issue or deciding factor on which you must meditate, and is drawn from Court Life in China by Isaac Taylor Headland: understand, however, that there are certain things that this
empire can never consent to, and that, if hardly pressed upon, we
have no alternative but to rely upon the justice of our cause,
the knowledge of which in our breasts strengthens our resolves
and steels us to present a united front against our aggressors.
No one can guarantee, under such circumstances, who will be the
victor and who the vanquished in the end. But there is an evil
habit which has become almost a custom among our viceroys and
governors which, however, must be eradicated at all costs. For
instance, whenever these high officials have had on their hands
cases of international dispute, all their actions seem to be
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