The Sun.
London, England, 1858-09-23 00:00:00

THE TREATY WITH CHINA.

(From the lioniteur of yesterday.)
The expedition sent to China has attained the
object proposed by the Emperor. On the one hand,
full satisfaction is given for our legitimate griev-
ances, and the chastisement inflicted on the magis-
trate guilty of the murder of Father Chapdelaine
will be made public throughout China ; on the
other hand, a treaty, signed almost at the gates of
Pekin, assures to our trade and our missionaries
free access to the heart of the Celestial Empire.
The barriers of ages that were still keeping in
isolation from the rest of the world a territory
peopled by nearly 300 millions of inhabitants, are
definitively overthrown ; China is completely
opened, and can in future no longer withdraw her-
self from the action of the civilismg movement.
It was on the 27th of June last that Baron Gros
signed the treaty of Tien-Tsin. To appreciate its
entire importance, we must not forget what the
relations of the irestern Powers have hitherto
been with China, and how limited the advantages
were that resulted from them.
The war between England and China had led,
in 1842, to the concluding of a treaty, which, by
placing in certain respects the barbarians of the
`crest on the same footing with the subjects of the
Middle Kingdom, opened to them certain ports,
granted them guarantees for their commerce and
persons, and created the first elements of interna-
tional law, hitherto unknown in China. By the
Convention of 1844, France secured to herself the
benefit of these different clauses, and obtained,
moreover, from the Emperor the ivsuing of an
edict that repealed the penalties affecting Chinese
Christians. Assuredly these were important con-
cessions, from which would naturally result in
the Chinese mind a clearer notion of France's
power, which was little known at Pekin, save
by the vague remembrance which the recitals of the
missionaries had left there concerning the grandeur
of Louis XIV., and subsequently by the renown of
Napoleon's name. The edict of toleration brought
over also to China our traditional protectorate of
catholicism, by extending it to Christianity in
general. But if this first success had an undoubted
value, we must nevertheless admit that the access
granted us to the Chinese territory, being restricted
to five ports, did not constitute an adequate con-
cession. It is to be observed also that the measure
_taken in favour of the Chinese Christians by the
edict of Tao-Kwang had not the stamp of being a
reciprocal act, and gas it 'emanated solely from the
Imperial will, this act did not possess the force of-a
convention engagement, nor did it authorise, more-
over, in any way the preaching of Christianity or
the entrance of missionaries into the provinces of
the Celestial Empire.
On the other hand the foreign missions were only
permitted to reside at Macao or Hong Kong, and
had never been able to transact business with any
other save the Viceroy of Canton. Our diplomatic
mission was compelled, like the others to fix its
residence without the Chinese territory, and always
found the impossibility of communicating direct
with the central government. This state of things
occasioned serious inconvenience, by placing foreign
representatives in a position of inferiority that
rendered their action utterly inefficacious, and com-
promised the respect due to them in the Chinese
mind'.

The treatment and advantages which the Em-
peror's government deemed it expedient to demand
are now formally and unreservedly conceded-to us.
All the important ports of the Chinese coast, as
well as all the great routes of communication
throughout the interior; are open to our shipping
and trade. Our fellow countrymen, who by the
terms of the treaty of 1844 were only allowed to
enter five ports, will be able henceforth, being fur-
nished with passes, to travel without hindrance
over all parts of China.

It is not now by virtue of a spontaneous edict on
the part of the Sovereign that Chinese Christians
cease to have cause of apprehension from the perse-
cutions of the mandarins ; it is in virtue of conven-
tion stipulations, which, acknowledging the benefits
of the Christian doctrine, abolish the laws that pro-
scribed it, and permit the missionaries of the West
to move freely about the interior of the empire for
the purpose of propagating it among the Chinese.
The Viceroy of Canton ceases to be the compul-
sory medium of our communications ; the represen-
tative of France will treat direct with the cabinet
of Pekin, and to this end he obtains the right of
residence in that capital. The advantages of this
concession, against which Chinese pride especially
revolted, are manifest. Henceforth we shall have
no cause to fear that the disloyalty of certain offi-
cials will impede the prompt and satisfactory solu-
tion of whatever differences may arise. These direct
communications with the Chinese cabinet will, as a
consequence, dissipate more than one erroneous
conception, and enlighten on many points a Govern-
ment that has almost everything to learn about the
nations of the West.

Commerce will receive new developments by
favour of the rights acquired for the future by mer-
chants of buying direct and without a go-between
their wares upon the very spot where they are pro-
duced. A new revision of the tariffs will make the
customs duties harmonise with the fluctuations of
prices. Goods will no longer be subjected to arbi-
trary surcharges levied on them during their transit
by the provincial mandarins ; the Government will
publish a uniform transit duty. The tonnage duty
will be similarly reduced.
Commercial shipping has long demanded a secu-
rity that fails it in the seas where piracy commits
its ravages with impunity. Measures will be taken
for the destruction of this scourge.
Lastly, the Chinese government has engaged to
pay to France a sum of 15 millions of francs, not
only as reparation for the losses sustained by
French merchants, but as a compensation for the
expenses occasioned by the war. •
The prayers formed by all enlightened minds
have consequently been heard. China, forced out
of her immobility and isolation, will pass under the
happy influence of Christianity and civilisation,
and at the same time, in the commercial movement
of the world, will take the part assigned to her by
her immense resources.
It will not be amiss to finish with the remark
that if results of such importance have been ob-
tained at the end of the world with a military force
of so small an amount, it ought to be attributed
both to the good understanding happily maintained
between the governments of France and England,
and to the valour of which the seamen of both
countries have just given fresh proofs.