A few days later, Bishop Scott, of the Church of England Mission, at Peking, received from Mr. Brown, another missionary in Shantung province, the following telegram: "Outlook very black; daily marauding; constant danger; Edict suppressing published; troops present, but useless; officials complete inaction: T'ai An Prefect blocks; secret orders from Throne to encourage." On this Sir Claude again called upon the Yamên, and "spoke to them," he says, "in terms of the gravest warning. While I could not believe it possible, I said, that the rumours of secret orders from the Throne were true, the mere fact of the currency of such rumours showed the impression which the conduct of the Prefect conveyed to the public. So much was I impressed by this, that I had come to-day especially to protest against the behaviour of the Shantung officials. The whole of the present difficulty could be traced to the attitude of the late Governor of Shantung, Yü Hsien, who secretly encouraged the seditious Society known as 'the Boxers.' I had again and again pointed out to the Ministers that until China dealt with the high authorities in such cases these outrages would not cease. I asked the Ministers to telegraph to the new Governor Yüan that I had called at the Yamên that day to complain of the conduct of the Prefect of T'ai An. The Ministers attempted to excuse the inertia of the local officials on the plea that their difficulties were very great. The primary cause of the trouble was the bad feeling existing between the converts and the ordinary natives. This had developed until bands of marauders had formed, who harassed Christians and other natives alike. The local officials had hitherto not had sufficient force to cope with so widespread a rising, but now that Yüan and his troops had been sent to the province they hoped for the speedy restoration of order. I impressed upon the Ministers in the most emphatic manner my view of the gravity of the situation. The Imperial Edict expressing sorrow for what had occurred and enjoining strong measures was satisfactory so far as it went; but Her Majesty's Government required something more than mere words, and would now await action on the part of the Chinese Government in conformity with their promises."