The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1894-06-15

AGREEMENT MAIDS BETWEEN Tae
Ar4ENlANs AND THE CHALClolkNs.
The First Treaty Made by the I nited states.
Forty-hve Treaties with Great britain
aud twenty-five with France The Re.
cent Chinese Treaty.

aud Twcnty-two with France The Re
cent Chinese treaty.
Especial correspondence
WAsH1NGToS, May 1i-In an upper
room Of the library section Of the depart
mont OF state, incloscd in Hat box Of the
toughest kind Of wood lisa curious plaster
slab which to the unlearncd eye looks
much like Il piece Of artificial tagging
acrr swhich flock Of turkics had walked
just before it hardened. Il is copy
Of % slab Of Pcntelic marble which was
found in the southern wall of the Acropo-
lis mt Athens on June 2s, 1876 The
marble slab under the general law Of
Greece became the property Of the Royal
Archaeological society of that nation, and
this copy I'm plaster was taken by General
J. Meredith Read, the United States min
lister at Athens, and was by him presented
to TIE department of state. The Greek in
scrinriun has been many times translated,
but according to the scholars Of the state
department the best rendering is that OF
Dr. Alfred Emmerson, and it Is therefore
approved as the official copy.
I 10 slab was carved and placed conspic
uously in the wall of the Acropolis in 446
b c., and the inscription is the treaty
made that year between the Athenians
and the Chalcidians. 1t is long stretch
of time from this the oldest treaty I'm the
archives of the department to the lately
concluded treaties with China and Russia.
And yet the differences are far less TO be
wondered at than the resemblance, for the
laJt,r show that through all the mutations
of ., 839 years many Of the general phrases
of such treaties have survived, and as both
are treaties of amity, commerce and inn
migration it is indeed curious to note that
two peoples Of Substantially the same race
and as near neighbors as different counties
in one of our states were at that time max
ing he same kind Of formal arrangements
with each other that we are now making
with PARKWAY, alien and semicivilized
China
Translation of an Ancient Treaty.
The old treaty is set forth in various
scientific publications, but IL is well to
give here a popular paraphrase of the
translation. The preamble sets forth that
it WAS passed by the council and the as
sem ply, Prytany of the tribe Antiochus
Drakontides presiding:
81. Resolution carried by Diognetus-
Diognetus brought in the resolution--that
the council and the judges of the Atheni-
ans should take the oath each as follows:
l viii not drive the Chalcidians from
Cha els, nor will l lay waste the city, nor
viii take from any one his rights of citi-
zenship nor will l Danish nor arrest nor
kill any one within the protection of Chal-
els. This will l guarantee to the Calcidt-
ans so long rs they remain in fidelity TO
the Athenian people. And let the generals
see to It that all take the oath.
1t is next set forth that the Chalcidians
shall not revolt against the Athenians,
and that all adult Chalcidians must take
tho oath. After some sentences of explana-
ton implying that amendments were nee
essary there follows:
So Resolution carried by Articles -
Articles brought in the resolution. With
the good fortune of the Athcnians: Lei
the Athenians and the Chalcidians taxi
the oath, as the Athenian people decree(
should be done in the case of the Eretrians
And let the generals see to it that it b.
done as quickly as may be Five Athenian
go to Chalcls to administer the oaths. De
cree to be inscribed on a stone slab and in
serted in the Acropolis, and may Olympiai
Zeus be the arbiter of faith"
\ Supplement.
1t appears, however that before the in
scription was completed another question
was to be settled, and so supplement
drawn by Articles and carried in the as
sembly by Archestratus was added. This
provides that citizens of each state have
rights of trial in the other, but for SEN
tencss involving death, exile or loss of civil
rights the final appeal shall be to the
highest court at Athens. Such is the in
scription and we know from history that
it wi.s considered at the time piece of re-
variable iberality on the part of the
A hat tir,na ctr iNr-
ing, N an awkward and primitive way,
it is true, TO build up a real Greek nation
atty 1t began with the confederacy of
DelOi, in which Athens was to be the lead
er of a united Greece against the Persians.
WhCl, however, TIE Athenians sought tO
make this confederacy permanent, and tC
encourage travel and free trade among the
Greek states enacted that all the citizens
of other Greek cities should have right OF
residence and trial in their courts the SAME
as their own citizens, it excited general as
constituent. The jealousy of Sparta was
aroused, she and her allies declared against
any such union and began that long wal
which destroyed the supremacy of Athens
And all this occurred in a congeries of in
dependent nations whose united territory
was only one-third that Of Ohio
lJ is a pleasure to turn to the copy Of
the first treaty made by the United State
namely, the treaty of amity and com
merce with France, signed at Paris Feb
@, 177S. 1t is written on the finest parch
ment on pages Is by II inches in size, cacl
page divided into two columns, the RICH
one in French and the left one in English
The seal attached by beautiful silkel
cord, is heavy disk of wax nearly 3 inche
wide and inclosed in circular box of sill
yer. The signatures are those of C. A
Gerard and B. Franklin. 1t is counter
signed by Gravier de Vergennes, and ther
come the interesting words, Par le Roi
Louis" His signature has almost faded
out, but still the dim tracery of the cleal
round letters awakes strange, thoughts Of
events which We're so soon TO follow and
the tragic fate of our royal friend of France
and his family. A later copy of the treaty,
and the one officially ratified by our con
gress, contains the names of other Amer
lean commissioners
Treaty with Napoleon.
The gem Of the whole collection, how.
ever, is the treaty with Napoleon for the
acquisition of Louisiana. 1t is bound in
the finest of velvet and written on the fin
est Of vellum, and the penwork is elabo
rate and beautiful beyond description. All
the scrolls and ilOurishes, the symbolic de
vices of the two nations and the ornamen-
tai letterings were done by hand and yet
look like fine copper plate. The velvet
binding is literally incrusted with gold or
naments in tracery Of vines and flowers,
terminating at the lower corners with
elaborate wands Of Mercury-that is, the
erred staff and the coiling serpent Origi-
nalIy the serpent's eyes were brilliant
stones, but these have long since fallen
out. Next to this in richness and beauty
of design is the dehnitiye treaty of peace
with Great Britain, dated Sept 8, 1888.
There had previously been three prelimi-
nary treaties with Great Britain and since
that date treaties with that nation have