The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1858-11-08
THE FRENCH TREATY


The expedition cent 10 China has accomplished the oh
cct the Emperor bad In view the one hand fun salts
faction given 70 well founded complaints and The ehss
tscmcnt Inflicted upon the magistrate guilty OF the
der of the Pcrc Chapdeane viii be made public through
out the whole 81 China the other hand treaty signed
almost the gates pckin assures 10 our commerce
and 10 our missionaries free into the heart cf the
Celestial Empire The barriers OF ages which stil kept
out from Tie rest OF The world territory peoplcd by
nearly 300 900 ,ooo ud~hnnts, definitely removed.
China IL completeiy Ms~c open and can no longer es
cape the march q CIV eaai:ss
Ii was the 27h of .LnesHst that Baron eros signed tho
treaty Of Tcintsn. bny to appreciate It's value,
be remembered what were hitherto tho relations OF the
Western Powers with China, and how limited were the ad
yantagee resulting therefronl.
The war between England and China led in 1s42 10 the
conclusion ot treaty which, placing IN certain respects
The "harbarans Of the West the footing tho
subjects og the Central Kingdom opened certain ports
them granted them guarantees for their and
personal safety and created the FIRST elements of inter
national law, until then unknown in China BY the Con
Of lsi4 France assured herself the advantage
the benefits Of those varied clauses and in addition eli
cited decree from the Emperor rcvosng the penalties
inflicted upon Chinese convertsto to Christianity. Assuredy
those important concessions and must have mbued
the Chinese mind with more distinct notion of the power
of France scarcely known at Pekn except by the
remembrance which the recital Of missionaries had LEFT
there o the greatness of Louis the Fourcenth and aer
wards q the rcnown Of the name Of Napoleon Tho de
crees of liberation, moreover, transported into China
our traditional rrotectorate of the Catholic religion,
extending TO Christianity IN general But Il this FIRST
success was of ncontcstblc value, IL must be allow
ed, however, that the admission granted 10 US into
the Chinese territory, limited 10 i've ports, INSULT
tOhcetslOn 10 ne observed that the mea
taken favor OF Chinese Christians by the edct OF
Tou.kouang did not bear the stamp Of synalagmatic
act, and enauating solely from the Imperial will that
act had not the force OF conventional engagement, and
N no manner authorized the preaching Of Christianity
the admission Of missionaries into the provinces of the
Celestial Empire.
ON the other hand, the foreign esssicns were only A.
iowcd 70 reside Macao or Hong Kong and could
treat except with the vceroy Of Canton Our diplomatic
embassy was obliged, like the others m its rsaido
csisde the Chinese territory, and always found fnacs
bic 10 commpncate directly with the central sovcrn.
menL THIS seue of things ef ssSfous ~son-
vcnence placing foreign representatives inferior
position, which completely tied their hands and lowered
Them IN the estimation Of the Chinese
The treatment and the advantages which the govern.
ment o the Emperor has thought ~ 10 are now
granted 10 us formally, and without reserve
All the important porte of the Chinese coast also the
great internal highways of communication, open
our navigation ard our commerce Frenchmen who,
cordng the of the convention of 1874 only
admitted 10 Eve ports may, bcnccforth, provided with
passports traverse unobstracted every portion az China
u - no longer virtue Of fporianeoue edci from the