WHILE we were besieged in the legations we were quite unaware of anything going on in the city outside of us until July 18, after the so-called truce, when we paid a native a large sum to smuggle into the compound copies of the Peking “Gazette,” the government organ, of the dates of June 13 to July 19, inclusive. The translations of such parts as relate to the Boxers or foreigners that follow show: first, the duplicity of the Empress in apparently trying to suppress the Boxers prior to the declaration of war, June 19; second, her open encouragement in edicts from that date until the defeat of her armies at Tientsin under Generals Sung Ching, Ma Yu Kun and Nieh Shih Cheng, July 17; and third, her immediate turning around and attempting to curry favor by denouncing the Boxers in the edicts of July 18 and 19. While trying her best to murder all the foreign ministers, she was having her own ministers abroad inform the countries to whom they were accredited that the foreign ministers were perfectly safe here. The edicts speak for themselves, and are an eloquent appeal to the foreign powers never to allow this most treacherous woman, or any other Manchu for that matter, to occupy the throne of China. “June 13—Edict: Two days since a member of the Japanese legation, the clerk in chancery, was murdered by desperadoes [her own soldiers in government uniform] outside the Yung Ting gate. We were exceedingly grieved to learn of this. “The officials of our neighboring nations on duty in Peking should receive our protection in every possible way, particularly in such times as the present [when we are planning to kill them all at once], when every exertion must be used, because desperadoes are as thick as bees. “We have repeatedly commanded the various local officials to secure the most perfect quiet in their districts, yet in spite of these orders we have this case of murder of the Japanese chancellor occurring in the very capital of the Empire. “The civil and military officials have been too remiss in not clearing their districts of bad characters, or arresting the proper persons, so we hereby set a limit of time for the arrest and punishment of such criminals [time not stated]. Should the time expire without a successful search for the guilty, then the responsible official will be given a penalty. [In other words, if the murderer of the Japanese is not discovered before we drive all the foreigners out, and the plot fails because of this premature murder giving it away, somebody will have to pay for it.]” “Edict No. 2: The Boxer desperadoes have recently been causing trouble in the neighborhood of the capital, and finally Peking has become involved.