Sun realized that he did not belong to himself but to many others for many supporters of the cause had already sacrificed their lives and everything they owned. On his shoulders he carried the hopes of countless people. He must persevere no matter how difficult it got.
Just as he was walking out the restaurant, a group of English police officers accompanied by a few officials from the Qing court stopped Sun and pushed him into a police carriage and drove him to jail without any explanation.
Having been through so much, Sun did not panic but, rather, started thinking inside the jail. At that time, a young constable came in wondering why someone as respectable as Sun was doing in jail. Dr. Sun spoke very good English and studied medicine in Macau. He gave this constable a note and asked him to give it to Dr. James Cantlie, Sun’s teacher in Macau.
Sun was finally released with Cantlie’s help. Tale of Sun’s imprisonment caused quite a sensation in London at the time. At that time, the representative system had already taken form in England and the society was also much more open than that of China. Immigrants in London’s Chinatown all knew that Dr. Sun Yat-sen had reached safety in London and everyone there silently prayed for his success.
Forces of eight-nation alliance invaded China in 1900. Empress Dowager Cixi and Emperor Guangxu escaped to Xian. The Qing Empire was at its last few years. Dr. Sun and his revolutionary comrades, though, swallowed one defeat after another.
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