Daily Ohio statesman. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1855-1870, 1868-06-10
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IFrom the New York Herald.l
CHINA AND THE CHINE ,E,

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Trade fn the East Portus uese,
HolIandish, English, Russian N
and American Diplomacy at Pc.
kin-From 1433 10 1880, or Four
Centuries of Diplomatic Re-
view.
The inception of the Burlingame Mis-
sion has been everywhere interpreted
and justly, as the opening act of a new
era in the commercial history and diplo-
matte annals of Eastern Asia, and es-
pecially of the hitherto jealous and ex-
elusive nationality of which he reap
pears in America as the representative.
1t has been four hundred and thirty-six
years since the ancient Kathai was clos
ed to European trade by the overthrow
of the Byzantian empire in 1433. By
this event European communication with
Eastern Asia was SO completely OBJ
structed as to put temporary stop to
the East Indian and Eastern Asiatic
trade, which continued for sixty-three
years. Portugal was just at this time
in the zenith of commercial Importance,
and has the honor of having been the
first to double the Cape of Good Hope,
thereby opening new passage to the
regions of the East. This was effected
in 1896, at the same period in which the
great Italian navigator, fixed in his be-
lief of the spherical shape of the earth,
was seeking to open the same regions
to European trade by the project of
circumnavigation; and in l496 the Por-
tuguese took possession of the Malabar
coast and also of the peninsula of Ma
lacca. The project of opening trade with
the Kathai of the ancient Romans was
Immediately set on foot,andin in 1916 Por-
tuguese adventurer named Raphael Per-
estrello, leaving Malacca in a junk, eff
fected a landing in the dominions of the
Son of Heaven after brief voyage
Perestrello, having been successful in
his reconnaissance, returned and report
ed to the colonial authorities at Malacca,
and upon his representations an expedi-
tion was fitted and placed under the
command of Fernao Peres de Andrade.
This expedition consisted of eight YES
sells and had on board an ambassador
named Pires, the first European ambas-
sador who was ever admitted to the i'm
perial city of Pekin. The expedition
was permitted to proceed as far as ST.
John, being held in close surveillance by
the imperial authorities, but finally eff
fected landing, contrary to imperial
permission, at Ning-po, where an attempt
was made to found Portuguese colony
and trading station, and several vessels
were loaded and sent to Malacca. Ming
po was, however, speedily invested by
the imperial forces, by which the colony
was dislodged in 1921, and compelled to
return to the Malay peninsula. Pires,
the ambassador, in the meantime had
not been very successful in effecting
the object of his embassy. Having wait
ed three years at Canton, that function
ary was at last permitted to proceed to
Pekin, when at this juncture of the me-
gotiations the death of the reigning en-
peror happened, and Kea-ting ascended
the celestial throne. Kea.ting was at
first minded to strangle Pires and suite
by way of appeasing the names of the
deceased, but finally altered his mind
and sent the embassy back under close
guard to Canton, where the whole reti-
nue., with Pires at its head, was stran-
gled by way of avenging some depreda-
tions committed by Portuguese marauders.
The following year Melho Continho, ig-
norant of the fate of Pires, and sent to
supersede him, landed at Ming Po. and,
by stratagem, being decoyed from the
vicinity of his vessel, was strangled,
with about two-thirds of the crew of the
vessel. Thus ended the first two en-
bassies and their negotiations, the i'm
perial authorities having as an excuse
for the strangulation of these function
aries the alleged lawlessness of the Por-
tugese traders, who were mostly made
up of villains of the worst class, ma
rooned to Malacca as convicts. The
Malay peninsula, in fact, was at this
date sort of Portuguese Botany Bay,
and so continued for nearly or quite a
century, though Kea-ting was undoubt-
edly an enemy of foreigners, and was
but too delighted with any excuse for
any Europeans who might be
caught Oh Ool6Slldl SOll.@
In 1420, a century previous to the de-
struction of these embassies, more
liberal policy had prevailed. This COM
menced with the reign of Yung-lo, who
was the first to send forth an embassy
of similar intent to that which is at
present quartered at the Westminster
Hotel to the nations of the Western
Ocean; and during the reign of his sue
cessor, Seuentih, several officers of the
palace accompanied foreign travellers to
distant courts for the purpose of negotia-
ting treaties of commerce. One of these,
a mandarin named Shing-ho, made an
overland trip with several hundred men
to the Bay of Bengal and thence to
Arabia Felix, concluding treaties of
tribute (trade) with the several Eastern
nations. on his route. This was the
first embassy from the empire to the ad-
joining nations of which history furn-
ishes any authentic record, and was for
a long time the last.
Between the years 1921 and 1884 the
Portuguese had rather informally sue
ceeded by bribing the mandarins, in
opening considerable trade at Teen
pax, small town west of Canton, though
their operations were scrutinized with
exceeding vigilance by the imperial au-
thorities and an intrigue was speedily
set on foot to dislodge them. In 1884
the aim of this intrigue was consummated,
and the centre of trade was transferred
to Macao, a small peninsula eight miles
in circuit and exceedingly rocky, Joined
to Heang-shan island by narrow neck
of land; and in 1887 the Portuguese were
permitted to erect sheds here for the dry
ing of goods wetted by the accidents of
a sea voyage. A second settlement or
trading station was attempted at Ming
po in 1540, and the Portuguese were
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