ABSTRACT
Peace talks, which were needed by both the Gh'ing Government and the revolutionaries, were arranged mainly by the British intermediaries. They were, for example, E. D. H. Fraser, British Consul-General in Shanghai, whom Morrison observed to have used his power to induce the revolutionary leaders to become ‘reasonable’, 1 and E. S. Little, who took the initial step by writing to Yuan Shi-kai. Little also wrote to Morrison that he had consulted Wu T'ing Fang, 2 and then sent a telegram to Yuan Shih-kai. Little asked for Morrison's support to urge Yuan. Yuan cordially accepted Little's invitation. 3 Morrison observed with satisfaction that ‘things are looking much better. There is a reasonable prospect of peace. Both sides were sick of fighting — both sides were experiencing financial difficulties.’ 4 Yuan asked T'ang Shao-yi to go to the conference as his delegate. T'ang accepted and left Peking on 9 December. 5
