New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1877-01-09
ORE FOREIGN RELATIONS.

An examination Of the volume of Papers
"rclating to the Foreign Relations of the
Omitted States, transmitted to Congress with
"thc Annual Message of the President, Dec 4,
"1S76," can hardly be called an exhilaratlng
pastime yet the selection made by Mr.. FISH
for this occasion is much better than the mass
of Diplomatic Correspondence printed in some
previous years. 1t is all embraced in SIX hun
dred and forty pages several of which are
rather interesting. Mr.. Bancroft Davis sends
from Berlin an account of the recent eccleslas-
teal legislation OF the German Empire. and
Mr.. Horace Rublee fills dispatch with the
story of religious troubles in Switzerland.
These materials for history have value which
cannot be attributed to the stereOtyped nara
tives of revolution from the Spanish American
States, nor even to the great moral essay OF
Minister Cramer upon the "good social
"couditon" of the people of Denmark.
Minister Washburne sends from Paris curl
Gus letter of Thomas Paine's to DantOn, and
an extract from the Journal of the National
Convention describing the reception of Mr.
Monroe, the letters and dIscourscs delivered on
which occasion the Convention oddly decreed
should be printed in the French and Ameri-
"can languages" Under the head of Great
Britain we find Mr.. Fishs able and exhaustive
dispatches ON the extraditon case, and the
appendix contains a number of documents
necessary to complete the history of this i'm
portant discussion.
Nothing could better illustrate the vexations
of diplomacy than the correspondence with
Spain relative to the Nirgnius affair. IL Is
more than three years since the Spanish Gov
eminent signed the stipulation to investigate
the conduct of Gen. Burriel and other officers
implicated in the massacre and to punish them
if they should be found guilty; yet here we
find Mr.. Gushing, as late as last Summer, still
urging upon the Court of Madrid the fulfill
ment of this long evaded obligation. In the
midst of the shower of kilograms, notes, re-
ioinders, and memoranda, our State Depart
ment was chagiincd by the announcement that
Gen. Burrcl instead of being tried, had been
promoted. But it is satisfactory to learn that
at the close of that part of the correspondence
embraced in the volume now before us, Spain
had got so far as to discover the proper tribu-
nal to take cOgnzance of the Burriel affair,
and was consequently almost i'll condition
to prepare to get ready to do something about
it. We need hardly say that this gratifying
interchange of letters equally remarkable for
untiring vigOr and stupendOus length
The Chinese section of the volume is enliv-
ened by a courteous and digniiied note from
Prince Kung on the Outrages OF 1.-THE Irish and
"hoodums' in San Francisco. which Amerl-
cans will perhaps not read with entire COM
posure Neither shall we take unallOyed sat
isfaction in the valuable paper written by DR..
s. Wells Williams in reply to sixteen inquiries
some of them very foolish-propounded by
the Senatorial Chinese Investigating Com
"mittee of California" DR.. Williams reminds
us that if Chinese immigration have an un-
favorable effect upon the morals of this coun-
try the fault will be our OVID. Surely the
Christian civilization of the 18th century is
not worth much if it can meet handful OF
Pagans with no better agencies of conversion
than paving stones and rotten eggs