Office of the Historian

File No. 14911/7.

The Secretary of State to the Chinese Minister.

Department of State,
Washington, November 16, 1908.
No. 123.]

Sir: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your note of to-day’s date formally conveying to me the sad intelligence of the demise of Her Imperial Majesty the Empress Dowager.

Upon the receipt of the news of this additional national bereavement I desire to express the profound sorrow of the Government and the people of the United States.

A telegram has been sent to the American legation at Peking instructing Minister Rockhill to convey to His Imperial Majesty the Emperor and His Imperial Highness Prince Ch’un, the Regent, the deep regret and sincere sympathy of the Government and people of the United States at the great affliction sustained by the people of the Chinese Empire.

Accept, etc.,

Elihu Root.