File No. 14911/9–10.
The Chinese Minister to
the Secretary of State.
Imperial Chinese Legation,
Washington, November 17,
1908.
No. 15.]
Sir: I have the honor to inform you that I am
in receipt to-day, through the Wai-wu Pu (Ministry of Foreign Affairs),
Peking, of the inclosed Imperial message, forwarded by cable, from His
Majesty the Emperor of China to His Excellency the President of the
United States of America. I thank you to transmit the message to its
high destination.
Accept, etc.,
[Inclosure.—Translation.]
The Emperor of China, newly
succeeding to the Imperial Throne, to His Excellency the
President of the United States of America, greeting:
Heaven, inexorable and pitiless in its decrees, has overwhelmed us
with deep sorrow by depriving us of our imperial parent, the
departed Emperor of China, whose demise occurred on the 21st day of
the tenth moon (November 14). By an imperial edict of Her Imperial
Majesty, the Grand Empress Dowager, we have been appointed to
succeed to the Throne. It is difficult, nay, impossible, for us, in
our minority, to realize the depth of our affliction and to sustain
ourselves under the very great bereavement. It is our sad duty,
nevertheless, to announce His Majesty’s demise to all friendly
nations. In view of the very cordial relations that always subsisted
between Your Excellency and our late Emperor, we can assure
ourselves that the news will call forth your sympathy. We therefore
respectfuly transmit this intelligence to Your Excellency by
cable.
Peking, November, 17,
1908.
