I do not propose to do more than touch lightly on the causes which led up to the great Boxer outbreak in June 1900&nbsp;a.d., but some misapprehension may be removed, and the reader of this volume may be led to more easily understand the state of affairs which obtained immediately before hostilities broke out, if a short explanation be given.<br />One hears many different opinions as to the reason of the Boxer outbreak, which every one will admit was the most important &ldquo;casus belli&rdquo; between the European Powers and China, and which eventually plunged the north of China into a sanguinary war which was waged on both sides with great fierceness.<br />The missionaries, the Dynasty, and the universal hatred of the &ldquo;foreign debbel&rdquo; have all come under notice as the possible causes of the trouble, but there is no room to doubt that the last is the real one, and in fact the only one at all supportable.<br />Everything seems to point to the fact that the Empress had long since desired to see the back of the troublesome foreigner, and although she sent her troops for the apparent reason of putting down the Boxers, there can be no doubt that she saw in the new movement a splendid opportunity for &ldquo;ousting&rdquo; all Europeans, thereby gaining a new place in the affections of her people, and a new lease of life for the Manchu Dynasty.<br />If this supposition be correct, she played her hand with marvellous cunning.<br />Imperial troops were sent against the rebellious(?) people, and in the middle of the fight that ensued, half of them would change sides, while the other half would amuse themselves by firing heavily into the mob with blank cartridges.