Wason 
 DS7405 
 G7A3+ 
 1871a 
 
 GREAT BRITAIN 
 
 FOREIGN OFFICE 
 
 CORRESPONDENCE 
 
CORNELL 
 
 UNIVERSITY 
 
 LIBRARY 
 
 THE 
 
 CHARLES WILLIAM WASON 
 
 COLLECTION ON CHINA 
 
 AND THE CHINESE 
 
Cornell University Library 
 DS 740.5.G7A3 1871a 
 
 Correspondence with Mr. Wade :Her Maiest 
 
 3 1924 023 185 014 
 
Cornell University 
 Library 
 
 The original of this book is in 
 the Cornell University Library. 
 
 There are no known copyright restrictions in 
 the United States on the use of the text. 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924023185014 
 
mmb* 23806. 
 
 560 i 
 
 SUPPLEMENT 
 
 TO 
 
 The London Gazette 
 
 Of TUESDAY, the \2th of DECEMBER. 
 
 THURSDAY, DECEMBER 14, 1871. 
 
 Foreign Office, December 9, 1 87 1 .'' 
 
 CORRESPONDENCE with Mr. Wade, Her 
 Majesty's Envoy Extraordinary and Minister 
 Plenipotentiary in China : — 
 
 Mr. Wade to Earl G-ranville. — (Received 
 August 15.) 
 Mt LoHD, Peking, June 8, I9il\. 
 
 I HAVE the honour to forward your Lord- 
 ship's translations of . a note or memorandum 
 addressed by the Tsung-li Yamen, in the first 
 instafice, to all foreign representatives resident in 
 Peking, and subsequently to those of all foreign 
 Treaty Powers, of eight propositions appended to 
 the memoranduip, and of a note addressed by the 
 Minister \'V en Siang to Sir R. Alcock shortly before 
 he left Peking in 1869. 
 
 The last was doubtless submitted by Sir R. 
 Alcock to Lord Clarendon ; but as I have been 
 unable to find a translation of it in the archives, 
 and as the Minister, Wen Siang, has again drawn 
 attention to it, I have had a fresh translation of it 
 made. 
 
 The note or memorandum is, in the main, an 
 expansion of the note to Sir R. Alcock. 
 
 Admitting that, so far as trade is concerned, the 
 Treaties work well enough, the writer complains 
 that their provisions fail entirely in the regulation 
 of the missionary question ; and that, through the 
 unsatisfactory position of this, the whole question 
 of foreign relations is affected. 
 
 The promiscuous enlistment of evil men as well 
 as good by the Romish missionaries, and their 
 advocacy of the claims advanced by these ill-con- 
 ditioned converts, has made Romanism most 
 unpopular; and the people at large do not dis- 
 tinguish between Romanist and Protestant, nor 
 between foreigner and foreigner : not that 
 Government lias made no effort to instruct the 
 people,, but China is a large Empire. 
 
 The growing feeling against propagandism had 
 long rendered the Government anxious before the 
 Tien-tsin massacre ; and now, although mandarins 
 have been exiled, criminals executed, indemnities 
 
 paid. Government still continues anxious, feeling 
 that, if there are to be more such outbreaks, 
 recurrence to such measures will be in each 
 instance more difficult. How then about the 
 future ? 
 
 First, as to the past. The high officers, both of 
 China and of foreign countries, have been sadly to 
 blame for a hand-to-mouth policy in dealing with 
 the missionary question. Foreigners ask and 
 China concedes what will make things smooth for 
 the moment. Foreigners also ask what is imprac- 
 ticable in order to place China in an impasse. 
 The Chinese Government would have the mis- 
 sionaries all brought under the same control, as in 
 other countries, amenable to the laws of the land, 
 restrained from undue assumption of status and 
 authority, and from acts that produce scandal fsee 
 Article II). There should be no mystery in what 
 they do (this refers to the Orphelinats), and their 
 conduct should in all respects conform to the 
 doctrine they teach. 
 
 At present they constitute in'China an imperium 
 in imperio; and it is to be apprehended that their 
 followers, seeing how the Tien-tsin massacre has 
 been punished, will presume more than heretofore, 
 and that, of this will come, an uprising of the 
 people beyond the power of Government to con- 
 trol. The responsibility of foreign Governments 
 will be great if they do not join China in devising 
 precautionary measures. 
 
 This is the sum of the note. Appended to it 
 is' a memorandum containing eight Articles, in 
 which are set forth various griefs, each Article 
 being supplemented by a note purporting to supply 
 evidence in support of the charge preferred. 
 
 Article 1 recommends the entire suppression of 
 the foreign Orphelinats ; if this be impossible, the 
 exclusion of all but Christian children, in any case 
 registration of the children, and free admission of 
 their friends. The present secrecy of proceedings 
 in the asylums provokes suspicion. The common 
 people still believe in the removal of the children's 
 hearts and eyes. These Orphelinats besides are 
 really not wanted, for similar asylums abound io 
 China. 
 
6602 SUPPLEMENT to the LONDON GAZETTE. December 14, 1871. 
 
 Article 2 protests against the appearance of 
 women in the same chapels as the men, and 
 
 against the employment 'of female missionaries. 
 
 Article 3 assails the missionaries' independence 
 of the laws, their assuniption of power and posi- 
 tion, their oppression of the people not Christian, 
 their abuse of Confucianism, by which they 
 exasperate the people. 
 
 It complains equally of the assumption of inde- 
 pendence by the Chri. tian congregations, their 
 refusal to render certain service as subjects of the 
 Empire, to pay revenue to Government, to pay 
 rents to individuals. In all such refusals they are 
 supported by their missionaries, who interfere in 
 suits before the Courts. Betrothals are also repu- 
 diated by Christians, and their alienation of pro- 
 perty produces family feuds. 
 
 Article 4 complains of the demands made for 
 indemnity over and above the punishment of 
 offenders, while Christians offending are withheld 
 from justice by missionaries. Missionaries so 
 offending should be required to undergo the same 
 punishment as the offender, otherwise to leave the 
 country. (See the note following this Article). 
 
 Article 5 would regulate the use of their pass- 
 ports .by -the missionaries, prevent their transfer, 
 and limit the area of the holder's movements, the 
 penalty of disobedience being deportation. 
 
 Article 6 condemns the reception as converts of 
 men whose characters cannot be guaranteed. Bad 
 Christians should be expelled, and a return of all 
 Christians should be periodically made. 
 
 In the note to this Article some instances are 
 given of the admission of rebel leaders and other 
 disreputable people into the Church, and of their 
 Siibsequent lawless conduct, in one case quoted, 
 apparently under missionary protection. 
 
 Article 7 denounces the abrogation by mis- 
 sionaries of ofHcial attributions in intercourse and 
 correspondence. They should accept,, it urges, the 
 Status of Chinese literati in both. Cases are cited 
 in the note of their assuming the use of seals, or 
 titles, or forms of correspondence to which they 
 had no right. 
 
 Article 8 and last deals with the restitution of 
 property formerly belonging to Christians (and now 
 claimed by the Church under Article VI of the 
 Convention of 1860). Buildings are demanded 
 back without reference to popular sympathies or 
 predjudices ; some that have passed through many 
 hands since the Christians, the original proprietors, 
 sold them ; some that their purchasers liave greatly 
 improved. The missionaries will pay nothing, but, 
 on the other hand, when a house they claim is in 
 irains, they seek to exact money for the repair of 
 it. 
 
 Had it not been for the strong resemblance be- 
 tween the note addressed to Sir Rutherford Alcock 
 and the memorandum now under review, I should 
 have been disposed to regard the latter, to a cer- 
 tain extent, in the light of a defensive document, 
 put forward in deprecation of any further demands 
 that might be made on the score of tlie Tien-tsin 
 massacre. This is, to a certain extent, its aim, 
 but not, I am satisfied, its only aim. It is in- 
 tended to be an expos^ of a state of things that 
 is sorely irritating the educated class who govern 
 China, and an appeal to foreign Governments to 
 unite in effecting some arrangements by which 
 the causes that provoke this irritation may be con- 
 trolled. 
 
 The papers, especially the supplement, are very 
 badly put together. They contain some state- 
 ments which will be easily contradicted, and some 
 imputations which cannot be sustained; but, taken 
 with the matter of many a long conversation on 
 the same subject, to which I have listened in the 
 
 last eight years, they strengthen my '"'""''f.V."" 
 that, to secure the missionary against the hostility 
 of the lettered class, one of two courses must be 
 pursued,— either the missionary must be supported, 
 out and out, by the sword of the protecting 
 Poweis, or he must be placed by the protecting 
 Powers under restrictions which, whilst leaving 
 him always as much latitude of action as, if sim- 
 ply intent on Christianizing China, he is justi- 
 fied in desiring, will yet enable the Chinese 
 Government to declare to those whose conserva- 
 tism chafes at the present pretensions of the mis- 
 sionary that he, the missionary, is not authorized 
 by the Power protecting him to put forward the 
 pretensions objected to. 
 
 That the appeal of the Yamen is feebly drawn 
 up, I have already admitted, and I cannot say 
 much for its candour. Its incompleteness, in my 
 eyes, will be seen from the rejoinder I have drafted 
 to the Grand Secretary Wen Siang, copy of which 
 I enclose. In this I am obliged to impugn the 
 correctness of some of his information, and 
 especially to reject as insufficient the explanation 
 attempted of the Tien-tsin massacre. 
 
 The passage, to my taste, the most offensive in 
 the whole paper is that in which credit is taken 
 for the decision of that case as satisfactory, so 
 much too satisfactory that Christians may be em- 
 boldened by it to go greater lengths than hereto- 
 fore. 
 
 The papers when first circulated appeared to 
 the French exceedingly aggressive. I am not a 
 convert to this view. The Chinese keep back, as 
 might be expected of them, all reference to the 
 barbarous persecution of converts and mission- 
 aries in various places, if not at the instigation of 
 the mandarins, at any rate with their full know- 
 ledge of what was passing, and they have scanty 
 data for some of their charges of missionary in- 
 tervention and pretentiousness. But I do not 
 believe that this appeal is an excuse for some blow 
 that they know is about to be struck. 
 
 It is fair to add that, by the testimony of 
 Eomish missionaries in all directions, the Govern- 
 ment is doing its best to prevent any collision with 
 Christians. Three-fourths of the Romish mis- 
 sionaries in China, in all, between 400 and 500 
 persons, are French ; and Romanism in the 
 mouths of non-Christian Chinese, is as popularly 
 termed the religion of the French as the religion 
 of the Lord of Heaven. 
 
 A dread of Romish ascendancy, as I have more 
 than once reported, I have heard very frequently 
 allowed ; and the fear that the ranke of the 
 Romanists, recruited by all who wish to set their 
 own Government at nought, will presently out- 
 number the well affected, or that the Romish 
 community, without attaining such proportions, 
 will throw itself for support upon the French, 
 although it is not avowed in the memorondum, is, 
 in my belief, the suggesting cause of its pro- 
 duction. 
 
 I have, &c., 
 (Signed) T. F. WADE. 
 
 Inclosure 1. 
 
 Memorandum of the Tsung-li Yamen upon the 
 Missionary Question, circulated February 9, 
 1871. 
 
 (Translation.) 
 
 WHEN the Treaties between China and foreign 
 countries were concluded, it was hoped that their 
 provisions would prove of advantage to both par- 
 ties, and of disadvantage to neither, and this for 
 evermore. The experience of a series of years, 
 
SUPPLEMENT to the LONDON GAZETTE, December 14, 1871. 5603 
 
 however, has shown not only that these provisions 
 will not avail' for all time, but that even now there 
 are difficulties which they will not solve. 
 
 In trade, indeed, there is no cause of serious 
 quarrel between native and foreigner, but con- 
 nected'with the missionaryquestion' there is a vast 
 amount of mischief on the' increase, the fact being 
 that While jmjpagatldisto* starts With the an- 
 nouncement that its object is the exhortation' of 
 people to virtue, Romanismf as propagated iu 
 (jhiua, litis the e^ct of setting the people against 
 it ; ifnd inasmuch as this is entirely the result of 
 the uHsuitableness of the modus operandi now in 
 vogUfe, it is essential that there be devised, without 
 loss of time, such remedial measures as will bring 
 things back to a satisfactory condition. 
 
 'The missionary question affects the whole ques- 
 tion of pacific relations with foreign powers— the 
 whole question- of their trade. As the Minister 
 addressed cannot but be well aware, wherever 
 missionaries of the Bomish profession appear, ill- 
 feeling begins between them and the people, and 
 for years past, in one case or another, points of all 
 kinds on which they are at issue, have been pre- 
 senting themselves. In earlier times, when the 
 Komish missionaries first came to China, styled, 
 as they were, " Si Ju," the Scholars of the West, 
 their converts no doubt for the most part were 
 persons of good character ; but since the exchange 
 of ratifications in 1860, the converts have in 
 general not been of a moral class. The result has 
 been that the reUgion that professes to exhort men 
 to virtue has come to be thought lightly of ; it is 
 in consequence unpopular, and its unpopularity is 
 greatly increased by the conduct of the converts 
 who, relying on the influence of the missionarieSj 
 oppress and take advantage of the common people 
 (the non-Christians) : and yet more by the con- 
 duct' of the missionaries themselves, who, when 
 collisions between Christians and the people occur, 
 and the authorities are engaged in dealing with 
 them, take part with the Christians, and uphold 
 thetn in their opposition to the authorities. This 
 undiscriminating enlistment of proselytes has gone 
 so far that rebels and criminals of China, petti- 
 fo&;gers an^ mischief-makers, and such like, take 
 rMuge in the profession of Christianity, and 
 covered by this position, create disorder. This 
 has deeply dissatisfied the people, and their dis- 
 satisfaction long felt grows into animosity, and 
 their animosity into deadly hostility. The popu- 
 lations of different localities are not aware that 
 Protestantism and Romanism are distinct. They 
 include both under the latter denomination. They 
 do not know that there is any distinction between 
 the nations of the West. They include them all 
 under the one denomination of foreigners, and 
 thus any serious collision that occurs equally com- 
 promises all foreigners in China. Even in the 
 provinces not concerned, doubt and misgiving are 
 certain to be largely generated. Under such cir- 
 cumstances, how is it possible but that there 
 should be irritation, and that this should show 
 itself in serious outbreaks? That creed is dis- 
 tinct from creed, and nationality from nationality, 
 is a truth, and it is not that this truth has not 
 been again and again the subject of injunction and 
 exposition, but the inculcation of the truth of siich 
 things upon every one, house by house, and family 
 by family, is scarcely possible. 
 
 During the ten years that, the Prince and the 
 Ministers have held ofilcej: the apprehension (that 
 
 * ■■ Chaan chiao," propagation of the doctrine. 
 + Tien-chu-clii," the doctrine of the Lord of Heaven. 
 % 'Jhat is biuce the establia^meat of tie Yamea of 
 Foreign Affairs in I860. 
 
 A 2 
 
 ^ something of this sort would happen) has been t« 
 ,ihema subject of anxiety from night to morning; 
 and now, this year, at a moment's notice, did come 
 this outbreak at Tieu-tsin. The condemnation 
 of the local authorities, the decapitation of the 
 principals, and the payments for indemnity and 
 reparation) have all been nearly arranged, bufc 
 they cannot help continuing anxious, because, if 
 measures like these are all that one can rely oa 
 f6r (the disposing of) quarrels between the people 
 and the Christians^ the oftener they are resorted 
 to the greater will be the difficulty (of resorting 
 to them), and outbreaks like this (of Tien-tsin) 
 will recur, each more terrible than the preceding. 
 While things present the aspect they now wear, 
 how is it possible that there should be no future 
 misunderstandings? Be it that the troubles con- 
 nected With propagandism come of the I'esentment 
 of the people roused at last to wrath ? It is not 
 the less a fact that the' Christians have given 
 them cause of exasperation? Allowing again that, 
 with cases of the kind in the provinces, the local 
 authorities have not always succeeded in dealing 
 satisfactorily, it is not the less a fact that their 
 failure is due to the course pursued by the high 
 authorities, native and foreign, administering 
 (international) questions. They well know that, 
 in the arrangements affecting the missionaries and 
 the Christians, there is much of incongruity 
 (much that does not go smoothly) ; but they do 
 not choose to take steps for the remedying of 
 this ; and when, one day or other, an affair comes 
 suddenly upon them, all the foreign Government 
 thinks of is the' moment's comfort (some ar- 
 rangement that will do for the time being) ; no 
 regard is had to the question whether the people's 
 feelings are for or against (what is required) ; 
 the one thing to be done is to constrain them by 
 force. The Chinese authorities, on their side, 
 looking only to settlement somehow or other, are 
 without an alternative. 
 
 Thus, both parties alike being set upon the 
 adjustment pro tempore of what is before them, 
 no thought on either side is bestowed upon (mea- 
 sures that will continue effectual) at any length of 
 time ; and when a foreign Government is applied 
 to, as on occasion it is, to inquire (with that of 
 China) into the source and origin (of these mis- 
 understandings), to the end that some means may 
 be discovered! of preventing them for all time to 
 come, there is, alas, no disposition to discuss thef 
 matter in a spiiit of equity. If there be a dis- 
 cussion something utterly- impracticable is pro- 
 posed ; and this is urged with violence in ordfer' 
 that its non-adoption may be an excuse for a 
 dead-lock. 
 
 This is not that spirit of honesty in which 
 international Agents should treat affairs. 
 
 The Prince and the Ministers are taking; 
 thought for the common interest in all its bear'- 
 ings. Greatly desiring that China and foreign 
 nations should be well with each other, that peace 
 shdtlld etidure for evermorej they are bound to 
 consider maturely what course it may be best to 
 pursue. They humbly conceive that to enable 
 the teachers of religion in the States of the West 
 to live as they do in each other's countries without 
 misunderstanding ever arising (between them and 
 the natives of the country they adopt), there 
 must be some suitable arrangement in virtue of 
 which neither the teacher nor follower of the 
 religion has it in his power to give trouble. They 
 have been told that the teacher of religion, no 
 matter what his nationality, if residing in a 
 country not his own, conforms to the laws and 
 usages of that country, and that he is not allowed 
 to assuiue a status of independence, that he is 
 
5604 SUPPLEMENr to the LONDON GAZETTE, Decembee 14, 1871. 
 
 strictly interdicted disobedience to the laws of 
 the State, or the commands of the authorities, 
 usurpation of power not belonging to him, or ex- 
 cessive use of power that does belong to him ; 
 injury of people's characters (or, creation of 
 scandal) and tyranical treatment of people ; for 
 that by snch acts the suspicion of the people is 
 provoked, and their animosity excited ; all lawless 
 doings, in short. Were this the course pursued 
 in China, if before building religious establish- 
 ments, ^nd beginning to preach [the missionary! 
 was to make certain of not producing a feeling of 
 aversion and odium on the part of the gentry and 
 people, there would be confidence (between the 
 two parties), instead of suspicion ; steps would 
 then be taken that would make a long endurance 
 of friendly understanding a possibility, and would 
 prevent the destruction of establishments, and the 
 abuse of the religion. And if the teachers of 
 religion were to make the public well understand 
 what they are engaged about as the business of 
 their vocation ; if they did nothing that was at 
 issue with the doctrine they teach ; if, farther, 
 they would not let their converts instigate them to 
 meddle with the public business of the locality, 
 and to do acts of violence and oppression on the 
 strength of their position, acts such as move the 
 gentry and people to wrath and hatred ; if mis- 
 sionaries would conduct themselves in this man- 
 ner, the people would be on good terms with 
 them, the authorities could protect them. The 
 course pursued by the missionaries who now come 
 to China is at variance in every particular with 
 any that the Prince and Ministers have ever 
 understood (to be sanctioned by their religion) ; 
 and being, as they are, just like an infinite number 
 of independent rival States in the heart of another 
 State, is it possible that, however much they may 
 desire it, peace should be kept for ever unbroken 
 between them (and tiie peopls among whom they 
 may be), or that the authorities and people should 
 be prevented uniting in feelings of anger and 
 hatred against them ? 
 
 The Prince and Ministers would guard against 
 mischief before it becomes a fact, and what they 
 seriously apprehend is this : that when the Tien- 
 tsin case is closed, the Christians in different places, 
 knowing no better, will be emboldened by it, and 
 (so far from taking warning by what has occurred, 
 will), on the contrary, allow themselves to swagger 
 aid bluster ad libitum ; the dislike of the people 
 will be intensified, and after due accumulation 
 their wrath will burst forth at a day's warning ; a 
 great catastrophe will be the consequence of the 
 e.Tervescence ; it will be beyond the control of the 
 lociil authorities, presently beyond the control of 
 the Pro\ijiiial Governments, and the Yamcn of 
 Foreign Affairs will be equally powerless. And 
 if there be an unanimous rising of the Chinese 
 people, His Majesty our Emperor may send 
 Special Commissioners, or may set troops in 
 motion in all parts of the Empire ; but the whole 
 population cannot be put to death. Their anger, 
 besides, once roused, we must be prepared for the 
 refusal of the people to bow the head and submit 
 to death. But when it comes to this that the 
 damage is past help, and the Governments, 
 Chinese and foreign, notwithstanding their desire, 
 in that they are at peace, to preserve the common 
 interest from harm, are without a means to that 
 end, a charge will lie at the door of the inter- 
 national agents of both, from which they cannot 
 excuse themselves. 
 
 To sum up : whether in China or in any other 
 country, it is essential that action taken be in 
 accord with popular feeling. If it be not so in 
 accord, and the, popular feeling be violently over- 
 
 borne, there is sure to be in the long run a 
 popular convulsion. There are occasions in 
 which orders, though they be the orders oi the 
 Government, will not be obeyed. _ 
 
 If the Diplomatic Agents of China and foreign 
 countries, upon whom the responsibility rests, are 
 utterly without [counsels that may] supply [what 
 is wanting], and rescue [what is imperilled from 
 dangerl ; if they are to sit still looking on at the 
 people of China and the mercantile communities 
 of different nations in a most critical position, 
 unable to suggest any course of action that shall 
 serve its purpose [in the matter under discussion], 
 it will come to pass by-and-by that in no public 
 matter of common interest will a satisfactory 
 course of action be possible. The Prince and 
 the Ministers desiring to preserve inviolate the 
 friendly relations of China with other nations, are 
 earnestly set upon discovering some means of 
 remedying [the mischief here considered], and to 
 this end they have drawn up eight Articles (or 
 Rules), copy of which they forward for the 
 perusal of the Minister addressed. 
 
 They are sending a copy to each of the repre- 
 sentatives. This is addressed to Mr. Wade, who 
 they hope will examine it. 
 
 Inclosure 2. 
 
 Eight Propositions appended to the Yam6n's 
 Memorandum on the Missionary Question. 
 
 (Translation.) 
 
 1. THE practice of taking young children into 
 the missionary (or Christian) " yU-ying-t'ang 
 (infant asylums) without giving notice to the 
 authorities has invested the proceeding with an 
 air of mystery, the result of which is the genera- 
 tion of suspicion, out of the fermentation con- 
 sequent on which come acts (or feelings) of hos- 
 tility. It would be best to break up all these 
 foreign asylums in order to the prevention of 
 misgiving ; but if their suppression be impossible, 
 the admissions into the Christian asylums might 
 be limited to the children of Christian parents 
 unable to take care of them. Notice ought in 
 any case to be given to the authorities, that they 
 might place it on record on what day [any child] 
 was taken in, who the child was, and when it was 
 taken away again ; also what person, if any, was 
 authorized, on giving security, to adopt it ; so 
 that a means might be known to exist of ascer- 
 taining the facts. Children not belonging to 
 Christian families, it will be the duty of the Pro- 
 vincial Governments of China to direct the local 
 authorities of their jurisdictions to choose members 
 fif the lettered class to deal with. 
 
 Thus each party (the Christian and the non- 
 Christian) would do its own good work, and 
 beginnings of suspicion would be prevented. 
 
 i_()riginal note on the above.^ — By the rule 
 affecting Chinese infant asylums, the history of 
 every child as it comes in and goes out of the 
 asylum is known ; it is reported to the autho- ' 
 ritics. After the child is admitted, its parents ' 
 are enabled to visit it. As it grows up it may 
 either be adopted by some childless person, secu- 
 rity being given, or the family which en'tered it 
 may take it back. Whatever may be the per- 
 suasion [in which it was born] to that persuasion 
 it returns. The children being, withal, charitably 
 taken care of in the asylums their reception into 
 them is consequently a charitable work. 
 
 The way of managing children's asylums in 
 foreign conntries is understood to be much the 
 same as that under the Chinese system : but the 
 peculiar system under which, in China, foreign 
 
SUPPLEMENT to the LONDON GAZETTE, December 14, 1871. 5605 
 
 asylums are managed, the admission of children 
 ■without inquiry as to their history, the absence of 
 all notice to the authorities, the refusal of permis- 
 sion to persons to adopt the children or to take 
 them back, or to their families to visit them, in- 
 evitably produce suspicion on the part of the 
 people. 
 
 Thus, in the Tien-tsin affair, it has been repre- 
 sented to the Throne, no doubt, that the hearts or 
 eyes of children had not in any case been taken 
 out (as was alleged), but the people's doubts are 
 not for all that entirely removed. Their mouths 
 may be closed, but they do not surrender their 
 convictions, and there is no saying that their mis- 
 givings may not at some future time again be pro- 
 ductive of hostility. If all the foreign infant 
 asylums were broken up, and [the foreigner] were 
 to do his work of charity in his own country, the 
 saving and bringing up of Chinese children, 
 whether Christians or not, would devolve upon 
 China. There is a large number of establishments 
 for this purpose in every province of China. 
 What occasion is there then for the intervention of 
 foreign nations in a fashion which renders a pro- 
 ceeding in the interest of charity a cause of sus- 
 picion and indignation ? It were far better that 
 each party should do its own work of charity. 
 This would be the surest way of preventing 
 mischief for all time to come. 
 
 2. Women should under no circumstance be 
 admitted into the chapels for establishments), nor 
 should female missionaries be iillowcd in China : 
 this to show a sense of decorum on the part of the 
 Christians, and to prevent criticism of tlieir pro- 
 ceedings as extraordinary, on the part of the 
 Chinese. 
 
 [_Original Note.]— In China the hijihest im- 
 portance is attached to good fame (or, to the de- 
 corum which insures it), and to modest deport* 
 ment. The men and women have no immediate 
 intercourse with each other ; their apartments are 
 separated, and the line of demarcation between 
 them is very strictly observed (or, insisted upon). 
 Since the relaxation of the restrictions affecting 
 Komanism, people have heard, to their surpise that 
 women go into the chapels, and the fact that the 
 sexes are not kept apart, and that they remain a 
 long time in the chapels, produces a tendency on 
 the part of the people to hold them cheap, and to 
 suspect that their religion is a pretence to cover 
 indecorous (or immoral practices). 
 
 3. Missionaries residing in China should be 
 amenable to Chinese law and usages. They 
 should not be allowed an independent position. 
 They should not be allowed to disobey the laws of 
 the State, or the orders of the officials ; to assume 
 authority that does not belong to them, or to over- 
 step the limits of the authority that does belong to 
 them ; to cause scandal to reputations, or to op- 
 press the people, thereby producing suspicion, and 
 provoking the multitude to anger. Neither should 
 they exasperate the people by reviling Confucianism. 
 All missionaries ought to be under the control of 
 the local authoritie« ; and Chinese Christians 
 should in every respect be on the same footing as 
 ordinary Chinese. They should be exempted, ac- 
 cording to the rules [in force] from contributing 
 to theatrical entertainments, and processions (or 
 gatherings) ; but they ought not to be more ex- 
 empt [than any other Chinese], from corvees, or 
 the public obligations of the locally. Still less 
 should they presume upon their religious profession 
 to evade full payment either of the regular revenue, 
 or of rent due to the landlords of their holdings ; 
 
 neither should they be upheld by their missionaries 
 in their refusal to pay. 
 
 The administration of justice, in cases in which 
 Christians and non-Christians are both interested, 
 should be always left to the local authorities ; the 
 missionaries should not put themselves forward to 
 fight their battles, neither should they keep Chris- 
 tians, whetherplaintiff or defendant, from appear- 
 ing in the Courts, to the embarrassment of the 
 parties in the case. 
 
 When a missionary takes on himself to inter- 
 fere, the local authorities should send up the letter 
 of the missionary, or report his language, if his 
 appeal was made in person, to the high authorities 
 of the province, and these should communicate with 
 the Yameu ; and the missionary should be sent 
 back to his own country. Chinese Christians [on 
 the other hand], if, in law-suits affecting marriages, 
 land questions, or the like, they attempt to take 
 advantage of their status [as Christians], and try 
 to get the missionaries to plead for them, should 
 be severely punished by the local authorities. 
 
 [Original N^olc.'] — In China there are adherents 
 to the doctrine of Confucius, also to that of Buddha, 
 and to that of Tao [but all alike obedient to the 
 law of the land]. The Lamas, for instance, 
 although not Chinese, in all cases conform obedi- 
 ently to the laws of China. Tlie local authorities 
 dispose of all questions and cases [in which they 
 are parties]. 
 
 It is understood that [abroad] foreign mission- 
 aries when residing in other countries than their 
 own, are in every case amenable to the laws and 
 customs of that country. They are not permitted 
 to assume a status of independence, and to violate 
 the laws of the country and commands of the 
 constituted authorities ; to arrogate to themselves 
 the authority [of officials], or to overstep the 
 limits of their own powers ; to cause scandal to 
 reputations, and tyrannize over and ill-treat the 
 people, thereby exciting popular suspicions, and 
 calling forth general hatred and indignation. 
 
 Missionaries in China ought in like manner, 
 when in tlie practice of their calling, to submit to 
 the jurisdiction of the local authorities. Instead 
 of doing so they go beyond all bounds in assuming 
 an attitude of arrogant importance and of over- 
 bearing resistance to the authorities. 
 
 Native Christians again are Chinese subjects, 
 and it is still more incumbent on them to be well- 
 behaved, and to be in every respect like the 
 ordinary subjects of the country. Whether in the 
 towns or in the country they ought to be on good 
 terms and act in harmony with their neighbours. 
 But far from doing so, when [for instance] a : 
 district is called on to contribute [either money 
 or services] for a public purpose, or when a fund 
 has to be collected in a neigbourhood for a com- 
 mon object, they seek to excuse themselves from 
 contributing by pleading their religion. When 
 they thus take the lead in isolating themselves, 
 how can others help regarding them as isolated ? 
 They even go so far as to refuse the payment of 
 taxes, and to resist the officers of justice. They 
 coerce the authorities, and cheat and oppress the 
 people. And the foreign missionaries, without 
 inquiring into facts, conceal in every case the 
 Christian evil-doer, and refuse to surrender him 
 to the authorities for punishment. It has even 
 occurred that malefactors who have been guilty 
 of the gravest crimes have thrown themselves into 
 the profession of Christianity, and have been at 
 once accepted and screened [from justice]. In 
 every province do the foreign missionaries inter- 
 fere at the offices of the local authorities in law- 
 suits in which native Christians are concerned. 
 1 For example, in a case that occurred in Sze-chuen 
 
5606 SUPPLEMENT to the LONDON GAZETTE, December 14, 1871. 
 
 in which some native Christian women defrauded 
 certain persons [non-Christians] of the rent owinff 
 to them, and actually had these persons wounded 
 and killed, the French Bishop took on himself to 
 write in official form [to the authorities] pleading 
 in their favour. None of these women were 
 sentenced to forfeit life for life taken, and the 
 resentment of the people of Sze-chuen in conse- 
 quence remains unabaj;ed. 
 
 In Kwei-chow, native Christians, whenever 
 they have a law-suit, of whatever kind it may be, 
 invariably state in their plaint that they are 
 Christians ; and they do so in the hope of thereby 
 gaining their case. The evils that result from 
 such a practice are easily seen. 
 
 It happens frequently in the provinces that, if 
 after a betrothal has taken place between tv?o 
 families, one of the families becomes Christian, 
 while the other remains non-Christian, the non- 
 Christian family is at once compelled to break oE 
 the marriage engagement. 
 
 Again, it may happen that the father or elder 
 brother in a family becomes a Christian, while the 
 sons or younger brothers remain non-Christians. 
 The father or elder brother will at once file a 
 petition in the courts, charging the son or younger: 
 brother with disobedience, and will be .supported; 
 and assisted in this action by the missionary. 
 These, and numberless proceedings of the same 
 kind, have roused the deepest popular resentment. 
 
 4. "Where Chinese and foreigners live together 
 in the same locality, the law must be impartially 
 administered. 
 
 In cases of homicide, the penalty being a life 
 for a life, Chinese subjects ought to be dealt with 
 according to Chinese law, and foreigners according 
 to foreign law*. This would satisfy popular 
 feeling. 
 
 In every case, whether dealt with by Chinese 
 or foreign officials, the penalty to be undergone 
 should be awarded with reference to the case 
 itself, and no claim for pecuniary compensation 
 over and above the punishment of the criminal 
 concerned should be brought forward. Still less 
 should it be permitted the [missionaries] to go 
 beyond the criminals concerned ; and by insisting 
 on the complicity of members of the gentry, or of 
 the mercantile class, to compel innocent persons 
 to pay indemnity. In cases between converts and 
 non-converts that come before the Ibcal autho- 
 rities, whichever party may be found to be the 
 aggressors, in awarding the punishment to be 
 inflicted there ought to be no undue severity on 
 either side. 
 
 Should the character of a convert be of a gene- 
 rally lawless character, and the knowledge of his 
 conduct reach the local authorities, whether by 
 special inquiry or by a complaint lodged [said 
 convert] should submit ii be arrested, and dealt 
 with according to la^^■. His missionary should 
 not be permitted to protect or conceal him. 
 Should there be attempts to protect him, or to 
 resist the summons of the local authority, the 
 offender must still be punished as the law lays 
 down ; and in addition, the missionary attempting 
 to protect and to resist the local authority, should 
 be required to undergo the same penalty as the 
 offender himself, or in default of submission be 
 withdrawn [from China] to his own country. 
 
 lOriginsl Note.^— In the case of the missionary 
 Pfeng-Pi-Lo (Mabileau), killed in a collision in 
 Sze-chuen in 1867, one Yan Lao-wu was arrested, 
 tried, and executed ; but the missionary Mei 
 
 dtaib 
 
 The writer meaos that the foreigoer ought to be put 
 
 to 
 
 (Mihi^res) persisted in asserting that the gentry 
 were the chief instigators [of the outrage], and 
 forced the payment of 80,000 taeis as compen- 
 sation. The men €!ngaged' in that disturbance 
 were all ignorant, indigent, common people. It 
 was an affair which came to a head and broke out 
 suddenly. But the proceedings of the missionaries, 
 in requiring the payment by respectable, wealthy^ 
 well-behaved people, of a sum of money by way 
 of compensation, has caused the deepest indign 
 nation. 
 
 Again, take the case of the missionary Li Kao 
 (Rigaud) who was killed in a collision in Sze*- 
 chuen in 1869. The real cause of the affair was 
 the repudiation of a betrothal at the instance of a 
 native Christian, who insisted upon its repudiationi 
 The Tartar General Ch'ung, and the Governor' 
 General, Li, were associated in dealing with the. 
 case. They arrested and executed Ho Ts'ai, a 
 Chinese non-Christian, the principal in the murder 
 of the missionary and native Christians, and sen*" 
 tenced one Liu-Fu to death by strangulation. 
 But as regards the native Christians, Wang Hsiao- 
 ting, Ch'ang Tien-hsing, and others, who have 
 murdered poor non-Christians, and who are well, 
 known to be the leaders of a gang of evil-doers^, 
 who for years have been committing acts of ex- 
 tortion, rape, abduction, arson, and murder, 
 though sentence has been passed upon them, they 
 have never delivered themselves up. 
 
 Again, in the case of the Seu-to (sacristan), T'an 
 Fu-Ch'en, who at the head of a band [of assas- 
 sins] killed Choa Yung-lin, and over 200 others,, 
 members of the local militia, the missionary Met 
 (Mihieres) asserts that this offender has gone 
 abroad, and that there are no means of punishing- 
 him ; and the indignation and hatred of the 
 people of Sze-chuen have been greatly increased 
 in consequence. 
 
 5. The passports taken out by French mission- 
 aries, [authorizing them] to proceed to any pro- 
 vince to preach and teach, should state distinctly 
 and precisely the province and prefecture they pro- 
 pose going to. If the passport of a missionary 
 states that he is to pursue his calling in a particulaf 
 provinco, he should not be permitted on any false 
 pretext to repair clandestinely to another province. 
 
 The name of the holder of a passport should be 
 set foith thereon and he should not be permitted 
 to transfer it at pleasure to another person. 
 
 The missionary should not be permitted to de- 
 fraud the revenue by carrying dutiable goods 
 through the barriets and customs stations he may 
 pass eti route. On arrival in the province and pre- 
 fecture for which he is bound, he should deliver 
 up his passport for inspection at the yamSn of the 
 local authority. If, on exarainalion, it be found 
 that the holder and the locality do not correspond' 
 [with what is stated on the passport], or if the 
 passport has been transferred to a native Christian 
 who assumes therewith the status of a missionary, 
 the passport should be cancelled ; and if the 
 transfer has been corruptly made for a money 
 consideration, or if there are any other circum" 
 stanoes of illegality connected with the affair, the 
 native who has illegally assumed the missionary 
 status will be punished with severity, and the 
 missionary should himself be expelled the couutry. 
 
 In regard to the names of the missionaries in- 
 serted in the passports, the name, as written in 
 Chme»e, must be taken as the real name, in order 
 that the local [authorities] may be able to distin- 
 guish one from another. On the death of a mis- 
 sionary, or if he return to his native country, or if 
 he change hie calling and cease to be a missionary, 
 m passport should be delived up at once to be 
 
SUPPLEMENT to the LONDON GAZETTE, December 14, 1871. 5607 
 
 cancelled. In order to show the genuine desire 
 [of the Chinese Government] to extend an efficient 
 protection [to missionaries, it should be laid down 
 that] no holder of passports will be permitted to 
 go to districts in any province where there are 
 rebels, and no passports issued for any province in 
 which military operations are being carried on. 
 
 [^Original Note."] — In a missionary case in 
 Kwei-chow, there was mentioned one Chao, a 
 missionary, but in the Missionary Passport Re- 
 gister for Kwei-chow, no such name was found. 
 M. Deveria, the Interpreter [of the French 
 Legation], wrote to say that he found, on refe- 
 rence to the old foreign rpgister, that Chao Seu-to 
 (sacristan) who had died of wounds he had 
 received, had been called Chao by mistake, and 
 was in reality the persen who, under the name 
 of Jui Lo-ssu, had taken out a passport on the 
 25th day of the 6th moon of the 4th year of 
 T'ung Chih(16ih August, 1865). Now it appears 
 from the records that one Jui Lo-ssu did take out 
 passport No. 325 on August 16, 1865, but he 
 was proceeding to Sze-chuen, and in the Passport 
 Register for Kwei-chow neither the name Chao 
 nor Jui Lo-ssu occur. If such discrepancies and 
 such interchanging of places and names as the 
 foregoing is allowed, how is it possible to arrive 
 at that knowledge of the truth which is necessary 
 to the rendering of due protection ? Again, take 
 the case of the missionary Lin Fu-chen (Paul 
 Splingaert), who killed the Russian. Lin Fu-chen 
 was at first a missionary, and afterwards became 
 a servant in the Prussian Legation, but his pass- 
 port was never returned to be cancelled. Should 
 the document be transferred to another person, or 
 should it fall into other hands, not only would the 
 irregularity of falsely assuming an improper status 
 unavoidably take place, but should it eventually 
 reach the hands of a rebel, the resulting injury to 
 the Government would be very serious, and it 
 may be asked, "would the good name of the 
 Christian Society not also be compromised ?" 
 
 6. Since the missionaries have for their object 
 the exhortation of men to virtue, it is their duty, 
 before receiving any person into their society, to 
 ascertain whether he has or has not been an 
 offender against the law, [or whether he is a 
 person] of bad character. [If he is found to be 
 such as] can be received, let them receive him ; 
 if not, they ought not to receive him. In accord- 
 ance with the law of China, providing that a 
 return [of the inmates] of all temples shall be 
 sent in to the headman of the district [to be entered 
 by him] in a register [which he shall keep] for 
 reference, a separate report ought to be made to 
 the local authorities within a given time, of every 
 man received into their sect, stating the year, 
 montli, and day of his reception, the place he 
 comes from, and his means of subsistence up to 
 that date. [They ought] furtfier to [guarantee] 
 that the man is not an offender against the law, 
 and that he has not changed iiis name, [that a 
 note may be made of the same] for [future] refe- 
 rence ; and if any man so received die or go 
 away, they should in all cases immediately report. 
 If, when a man is received into a sect, there be 
 nothing against him, but if after his reception he 
 commit a breach of the law, he should at once be 
 expelled, and, as in other cases [above detailed], 
 a report be made. 
 
 Every month and every quarter a general return 
 should be sent in to the local authorities for inspec- 
 tion, and those officers, in accordance with the 
 law of China, [authorizing] the inspection of 
 Buddhist nunneries and temples, the Taoist esta- 
 blishments should in the same manner pay a visit 
 
 of inspection to the missionary establishmenta 
 monthly and quarterly. 
 
 By this means the [good] name of the sect will 
 be preserved unharmed, and peace will be pre- 
 served [between Christian and non- Christian]. 
 
 [_Oriyinal Note'].— In the 5th year of T'ung 
 Chih (1866), the Governor of Kwei-chow reported 
 [the following] case : — 
 
 At Kuei-ting-hsien, Jan Shih-pao and others, 
 followers of the rebels, had joined a society esta- 
 blished by Yiian-yu-hsiang and Hsia Chen-hsing, 
 converts, and had made their Christianity a pre- 
 text for getting together a number of men, jdined 
 with whom they murdered two men, Wang- 
 chiang-pao and Tso-yin-shu, and wounded three 
 others, taking a.11 their money, household property, 
 oxen, and horses. 
 
 Again, in the 8th year of T'ung Chih (1869), 
 the Governor of Kwei-chow reported [the fol- 
 lowing] case : — 
 
 The whole prefecture of Tsun-i had sent in a 
 petition complaining that Sung Yii-shan, T'ang 
 Shen-hsien, T'an Yiian-shuai, and Chien Yiian- 
 shai, soi-disant rebel generailiesimos, had been 
 received as converts, and that innumerable people 
 in the towns and villages [of the prefecture] had 
 suffered injury at their hands. 
 
 Again : Yang Hsi-po, Liu K'ai-wen, Ch'ing 
 Hsiao-ming, Ho Wen-chiu, Chao Wen-an, and 
 others, all of whom were converts and people of 
 disreputable families in the jurisdiction of Tsun-i, 
 employed in the business of the religious esta- 
 blishments, were tyrannising over the orphans 
 and the weak, and oppressing and extorting 
 money from the simple villagers. They went in 
 and out of the courts [as they 'pleased], and 
 engrossed the management of [all] lawsuits, if 
 any converts were non-suited (or lost their cause), 
 Yang Hsi-po and the rest at once forced their 
 way into the magistracy with a crowd of [their 
 fellow-] converts, and compelled the magistrate 
 to alter his decision. If any. convert was taken 
 into custody, they went at once with the foreign 
 missionary's card, and requested his immediate 
 release. There were very many cases of unlawful 
 possession of men's wives and daughters and of 
 property, and murder, and all such crimes. 
 
 7. Missionaries should obey the established 
 laws (or respect the dignity) of China j in this 
 they ought not to transgress, be it ever so little. 
 They have no right to use official seals or to 
 attempt official correspondence with Yamens, 
 large or small, in the form arguing equality of 
 position. If a case occurs in which they have to 
 appeal in their own behalf to the authorities, the 
 case not being connected with other lawsuits, their 
 application to the authorities ought to be in the 
 form which, in acccordance with Chinese usage, 
 is employed by the literati, a ping (petition). If 
 they visit Chinese high officials, they ought to 
 observe the same ceremonies as those laid down 
 by Chinese law to be observed by Chinese literates 
 when visiting high officers ; and when they have 
 to request an interview with the local authorities, 
 they ought also to observe the same rule. They 
 have no business to come straight (uncere- 
 moniously) into a public office, to the confusion 
 and disturbance of public business. 
 
 \_Originrtl JVote.J— In the spring of the 6tU 
 year of T'ung Chih (1867), the General at 
 Ch'eng-tu wrote to report that the French bishop 
 [by name] Hung (Pinchon) had, when wriliug to 
 the official Committee (most likely that charged 
 with raising funds for the suppression of rebel- 
 lion) in Sze-chuen, made use of a [Chinese] 
 official seal which he had had cast. 
 
5608 
 
 SUPPLEMENT to the LONDON GAZETTE, December 14, 1871. 
 
 In the 7 th year of T'ung Chih (1868), Hu 
 Fu-li (Fawrie), Bishop of Kwei-chow, took upon 
 himself to address the Yamen a communication 
 in the form " chao hui," which he sent by the 
 Government post couriers, commending To-wen, 
 the former Taoutae and others, and requesting 
 that extraordinary marks of favour might be 
 bestowed upon them. 
 
 A case occurred of a missionary in Shantung 
 assuming the title of Sinn-fu (Governor of a pro- 
 vince).* Both in Sze-chuen and Kwei-chow mis- 
 sionaries have lield such language as that in con- 
 sequence of cases affecting the religion they were 
 obliged to request the withdrawal of the local 
 authorities. This is not only encroachment upon 
 the authority of the local officials, but usurpation 
 of the authority of the Chinese Government. How 
 is it possible that all these improprieties should 
 not arouse general indignation ? 
 
 8. In the interest of peace it will not do for 
 missionaries to be demanding restitution of any 
 chapel they may please to indicate. When Chris- 
 tians wish to buy land for the erection of religious 
 establishments, or to rent public places, they 
 should, first, in conjunction with the real owner 
 of the property, lay the matter before the local 
 authority, tliat he may ascertain whether the fSng 
 shuij will be interfered with. If he allows the 
 sale, after inquiry, and if, moreover, the people 
 of the place are not hostile to it, authority can be 
 given to proceed in accordance with the Agree- 
 ment of the 4th year of T'ung Chih (1865), that 
 is, it ought to be stated on the title-deed that the 
 land belongs to the Chinese Christians as their 
 common property. It should not be permitted in 
 buying property to effect the transfer by making 
 use of some other name [than that of the real 
 purchaser] ; nor should it be permitted to effect 
 the transfer irregularly (otherwise than as the 
 law requires') upon the deceitful representations 
 of dishonest people.^ 
 
 [ Original Note.J — As missionaries have to 
 reside permanently in China, it is, of course, 
 desirable that they should be on good terms with 
 the Chinese, and that they should not provoke the 
 irritation and dislike of the Chinese. They would 
 then be able to live in harmony with them without 
 exciting suspicion. At the present time much of 
 the conduct of Christians clashes against the 
 feelings of tlie Chinese people. To take claims 
 for the restitution of chapels as an instance : — 
 During the last few years the restitution of chapels 
 in different places in every province has been 
 insisted upon, without any regard for the feeling 
 of the masses, the missionaries obstinately per- 
 sisting in their claims. They have also pointed 
 out fine handsome houses [belonging to, or occu- 
 pied by] the gentry or others, as buildings once 
 used as churches, and these they have com- 
 pelled the people to give up. Places even [the 
 surrender of which] was as a question of dignity 
 improper,§ with meeting-halls, clubs, temples, all 
 such being places held in high respect by the 
 
 " The words literally mean " to go the rounds comforting 
 or consoling ;" used as a title, they designate a Provincial 
 Gjvernor. 
 
 ■f The " ffing shui," air and water influence, is one of 
 the great pests of China, In the aspect of a house, choice 
 of a grave, opening of a door or window, planting of a 
 chimney, this influence has to be consulted, and to the 
 neglect of it most direful consequences are attributed. 
 
 $ To avoid diacuasions, the missionary, I believe, occa- 
 sionally endeavours to acquire the ground needed by putting 
 forward this or that particular Chriatian, There can be no 
 real objection to this proceeding. 
 
 § Probably YamSns are meant. 
 
 gentry and people of the whole neighbourhood, 
 they have forced from them for the benefit of the 
 Church, in Ueu [of other lands or buildings].* 
 
 A farther consideration is this : — Buildings 
 which were once used as chapels have been m 
 some cases sold years ago by Christians; and 
 having been sold and re-sold by one of the people 
 to another, have passed through the hands of 
 several proprietors. There is also a large number 
 of buildings which have been newly repaired at 
 very considerable expense, of which the missionaries 
 have insisted on the restitution, refusing at the same 
 time to pay anything for them. On the other 
 hand there are some houses which have accident- 
 ally become delapidated, and the missionaries put 
 in a claim for the necessary repairs. Their con- 
 duct excites the indignation of the people when- 
 ever they come in contact with each other, till 
 they appear to be at feud with each other, and it 
 becomes impossible for them to live quietly toge- 
 ther. 
 
 The grievances detailed in this Memorandum 
 are only a few instances cited to show the impro- 
 priety of missionary proceedings, and the [conse- 
 quent] impossibility of a good understanding 
 between the Christians and the people. No time 
 should be lost in looking for a remedy suited to 
 the disease, one that may so avail both parties at 
 to prevent the missionary question injuriously 
 affecting friendly relations between China and 
 foreign countries. There are other cases, too, in 
 every province too numerous to mention. 
 
 There are good men as well as bad ; by the 
 removal of the tares the wheat is strengthened. 
 Thus, in trade, by dealing severely with fraudu- 
 lent merchants, the interests of the upright are 
 secured. Now, if the missionaries make no dis- 
 tinction between good and bad men, but receive 
 all men alike that come forward into their church, 
 then the wicked who become their converts will 
 use their religion to compass the ruin of the good. 
 Extreme indeed would be the danger if, popular 
 indignation having been once seriously aroused by 
 this opposition to the authorities, the hatred of the 
 whole population of China were excited like that 
 of the people of Tien-tsin against foreigners, and 
 orders, though issued by the Government, could 
 not be for all that put in force. 
 
 In the propositions here enumerated, the Chinese 
 Government, while making every effort to assure 
 the security [of the foreigner], is adhering, on the 
 other hand, to a policy of liberal treatment. If 
 the missionai-ies will faithfully endeavour to abide 
 by what is laid down, peace can be maintained 
 between them and the Chinese ; but if they con- 
 sider themselves [too much] restricted by it, or if 
 they regard it as at issue with the tenets of their 
 religion, they had best not proselytize in China. 
 Native Christians will, of course, be treated as 
 favourably as non-converts. No distinction will 
 be made. The meaning of this is not that China 
 is laying a prohibition on missionary preaching, 
 but that by not attending peaceably to their proper 
 work, and by allowing themselves to be made 
 tools of by native Christians, missionaries will for 
 certain provoke an amount of popular indignation 
 that there will be no facing, [and that on this will 
 follow] a univeral catastrophe.^ It is better, 
 therefore, now to explain [what the danger is] 
 beforehand than to prove unaLle to give due pro- 
 tection when the moment arrives. 
 
 • Other lands, &c., restoration of which they could not 
 obtain. . 
 
 t Lit, a grand smash in cverv place. 
 
SUPPLEMEJsT TO the LONDON GAZETTE, December 14, 1871. 
 
 In closure 3. 
 
 Note addressed by the Minister W§n Siang 
 to Sir E. Alcock. 
 
 (Translation.) 
 
 THE writer again addresses [Sir R. Alcock.J 
 
 The object of foreigners who enter the interior 
 to propagate their doctrines is the exhortation of 
 men to virtue. But among their converts there 
 are men evil disposed and well disposed ; [the 
 latter] relying on their creed as a sort of magic 
 spell which shall protect them, by their conduct 
 bring the preaching of Christianity into such dis- 
 credit that [the people] are unwilling to allow the 
 missionary to remain in any place that he goes to. 
 Add to this, that the missionary thinks only of the 
 number of converts h^i can make ; he makes no 
 inquiry into private character, but receives and 
 enrols all [who come]. Having entered the 
 [Christian] society, the good are bent no doubt 
 oa being good, but on the other hand the evil 
 make [their religion] a pretext for defrauding and 
 oppressing unoffending people, till by degrees 
 indignation and rage reach a point at which the 
 relations [of the two parties] become as those of 
 fire and water. At the present time, as the British 
 Minister must doubtless be well aware, case after 
 case of murder has occurred, the consequence of 
 feuds .btween Christians and non-Cbristians. 
 Although the creeds of the various foreign 
 countries differ in their origin and development 
 from each other, the natives of China are unable 
 to see the distinction between them. In their 
 eyes all [teachers of religion] are " missionaries 
 from tihe West," and directly they hear a lying 
 story [about any of these missionaries], without 
 making further and minute inquiry [into its 
 truth], they rise in a body to molest him. The 
 Yang-chow affair is plain evidence of this. 
 
 Now if no preventive measures are adopted 
 some great catastrophe will inevitably arise. 
 
 Regulations ought, therefore, to be drawn up, 
 with such caie as shall enable them to prevent 
 native Christians from making their religion a 
 pretext for extorting money fi-om honest people, 
 or the non-Christians from taking advantage of 
 their numerical superiority to defraud and oppress 
 the IChristians ; which shall besides bring mis- 
 sionaries, even as the priests of the Buddhist and 
 Taouist sects, under the jurisdiction of the local 
 authorities. Seeing that missionaries wish to 
 reside in China, that their doctrines may gradually 
 be propagated far and wide, they cannot wish the 
 Chinese to look upon them as differing from them- 
 selves. They ought, therefore, to put themselves 
 on tire same footing as Chinese subjects. Buddhism 
 is also a creed of Vv^'estern origin, but the reason 
 why its followers have so long been at peace with 
 the Chinese, each party adhering to his own 
 religion, is this, that although there is a difference 
 of religion, the propagaters of this creed are, as 
 well as- the others, under the control of the local 
 authorities. And so in Confucianism, the system 
 most esteemed in China, when such men as Chin 
 shih and Han lin Cthose who have taken the 
 highest degrees), after having filled official posi- 
 tions, return home, or become the heads of schools, 
 they become subordinate as they were before [they 
 took office] to the local authorities. This is 
 always- the rale. At the present time foreign 
 missionaries, as a general rule, adopt the Chinese 
 dress, but'they do not [at the same time] submit 
 to Chinese law. Tliey thus begin by holding 
 theunselves as outside [the pale of the law], and 
 show to others that they are not to be treated as 
 ordinary people. And the native Christians go 
 farther : they defraud and oppress ordinary sub- 
 
 No 23806. B 
 
 jects of the country, or withstand and disobey the 
 authorities. [Such being the case] it is not to be 
 wondered at that men become indignant, and that 
 surprise is everywhere manifested. 
 
 But let only this change be made, viz., that 
 [missionaries] be placed under the control of the 
 local authorities (who must not be allowed to be 
 vexatious in their treatment of them), and the 
 result will be that Christians and non-Christians 
 will be placed on a just level vis-^-vis with each 
 other, and no troubles will arise from unexpected 
 sources. 
 
 The missionary question, moreover, gravely 
 affects the whole question of commercial relations. 
 
 Some measure must, therefore, be devised in 
 time that shall insure the maintenance of ever- 
 lasting and sincere friendship. 
 
 The writer hopes for a reply. 
 
 8th year, 5th moon, 17th day (June 26, 1869). 
 
 Inclosure 4. 
 
 Mr. Wade to the Minister Wen Siang. 
 
 SiE, Peking, June , 1871. 
 
 In accordance with the promise I made your 
 Excellency when I had the pleasure of meeting 
 you at the Yamen of Foreign Affairs a few days 
 ago, I beg to submit to you some observations on 
 the papers relating to the missionary question 
 which were forwarded me by yourself and the 
 President Shen, on the 9th of February last. 
 
 It will be in your recollection that, when they 
 were sent me, I made an effort to have their cir- 
 culation postponed until portions of them which 
 seemed to me open to criticism could be revised ; 
 and, in my note of the 11th February, I proposed 
 to lay before you a statement in writing of my 
 views on the subject. I was engaged on a 
 memorandum to be submitted to you when I re- 
 ceived your subsequent note of the IfttU, urging 
 dispatch, as you wished to address all the Legations 
 at the same moment. I rode to the Yamen tbe 
 fbllowing afternoon for the purpose of tendering 
 my explanations in person, but I was not so for- 
 tunate as to see your Excellency ; and, on inquiry, 
 I learned that the papers had already been circu- 
 lated the evening before". 
 
 I had been anxious to prevent their issue unre- 
 vised, for two reasons in particular : in the first 
 place, on account of the prominence given to the 
 name of France and to the Roman Catholic religion, 
 which I thought might be offensive not only to 
 France but to other Powers whose nationals sire 
 also engaged in missionary enterprise in China ; in 
 the next place, because the review of the difficulties 
 of the missionary question, more especially in those 
 parts which attempt an explanation of the Tien- 
 tsin massacre is by no means calculated to insure 
 the Chinese Government that sympathy and 
 support on the part of foreign nations for which, 
 these papers are osten.iibly an appeal. It was 
 with no small regret, therefore, that I found 
 them in circulation ; and my silence up to the 
 present time must be attributed among other reasons 
 in no small part to the discouragement I have 
 felt at discovering, in this instance, as so fre- 
 quently before, that my advice, even when asked 
 for, has little chance of being attended to. 
 
 However, as your Excellency has once more 
 expressed a wish to hear what I have to say, I 
 address myself to the task. 
 
 Reversing the order of the documents under re- 
 view, I begin with the eight Articles appended to 
 the covering note. 
 
 Article 1 relates to the infant asylums. 
 Protestant missionaries have not, to my know- 
 
5610 SUPPLEMENT to the LONDON GAZETTE, December 14, 1871. 
 
 ledge, established any such asylums, but I am 
 assured that, in those of the Eoman Catholics, no 
 objection is ever made to the visits of the parents 
 or friends of an infant. Many of these, at the 
 same time, have neither friend nor parent. They 
 are children who have been abandoned by all. 
 It would be difficult to find any one who would 
 become security for unfortunate outcasts who have 
 been left by the wayside to die. 
 
 As I have above stated there are no Protestant 
 asylums in China, and I have, of course, some 
 delicacy in expressing an opinion upon the expedi- 
 ency of this or that course to be pursued by those 
 not of my own persuasion ; but I shall concede 
 that, as these children are undoubtedly Chinese 
 subjects, it is not unreasonable to require that a 
 register of the admissions should be kept for the 
 inspection of the Chinese authorities ; that they 
 should be free from time to time to visit the 
 asylums ; and tiiat the deaths of the infants should 
 in all cases be reported to the authorities. 
 
 Article 2 lavs down that no Chinese woman 
 should be admitted into the chnpels, and that 
 female missionaries should be prohibited in China. 
 The usage now in force, it is alleged, produces 
 au impression unfavourable to the repute of Chris- 
 tian women, and consequently discredits Christians 
 altogether. 
 
 I cannot imagine that any Government, Pro- 
 testant or Romanist, will consent to the exclusion 
 of its female subjects from China, or that in the 
 face of the various Treaties allowing freedom 
 to natives and foreigners to preach and practise 
 Christianity, they will attempt to interdict their 
 female subjects any more than their male subjects 
 from imparting tlie truth they prize as professing 
 Christians to others. 
 
 Confucius [teaches that, while we are not to fail 
 in the practice of virtue ourselves, we are not 
 either to weary in the correction of others, and 
 this is surely not less the duty of woman than of 
 man. 
 
 As to the question of decorum, your Excellency 
 is evidently not aware, in the first place, that 
 during service Christian chapels, Protestant and 
 Romish alike, are open to all, non- Christians as 
 well as Christians, who will conduct themselves so 
 as not to interrupt the service ; that there are no 
 doings in either that any outsider is not free to 
 observe : and that in the Romish places of worship 
 in China the sexes, out of deference to Chinese 
 feeling on the subject, are generally, if not always 
 Separated. I have seen this with my own eyes at 
 Shanghae, and I believe that it is the rule in their 
 chapels elsewhere. 
 
 Article 3 complains of the position arrogated by 
 the missionaries in China in their relations with 
 the authorities of the land, and of various proceed- 
 ings on their part which irritate both authorities 
 and people, in particular of their interference 
 between the native Christians and the law. The 
 instances given of the offences complained of are 
 not numerous, and the venue is laid in the remote 
 provinces of Kwei-chow and Sze-chuen. The 
 cases brouglit forward again only affect Roman 
 Catholics. I am assured by the Representative of 
 France, that although he considers it most de- 
 sirable that the Romish Bishops and their mis- 
 sionaries should have such access to the chief 
 authorities of jurisdictions as will enable them to 
 represent any wrong done to their congregations 
 in the matter of religious freedom, the French 
 Legation does not recognise the claim of the same 
 ecclesiastics to interfwe between the Chinese 
 Christian and his official in any question in 
 ■which the free exercise of his religion is not 
 affected. 
 
 If, as it is alleged, foreign missionaries are itt 
 the habit of interposing in suits, civil or criminal, 
 or of forcing themselves, either in person or corres- 
 pnndi'ucp, upon the authorities in a manner dis- 
 respectful or offensive, the remedy, it appears to 
 me, is in the hands of the latter. The authority 
 outraged has but to complain to the nearest consul, 
 or, througli the Yamen, to the Legation of the 
 country to which the missionary belongs. I can, 
 of course, answer for no Government but my own, 
 but I am satisfied that Her Majesty's Government 
 would not uphold anj' British missionary either in 
 au interference in suits, or in the support of a 
 Chinese in his opposition to the laws of China. 
 
 In the matter of subscriptions for public pur- 
 poses, it seems to me that there may be some con- 
 fusion between the classes of contributions. His 
 conversion to Christianity does not, in the opinion- 
 of foreign Governments, in any way affect the 
 Chinese proselyte's subordination to the officers of 
 his Government, or to the laws of the land. It 
 will certainly not be held to exempt him from taxa- 
 tion. But from certain contributions which his 
 fellow-countrymen impose upon themselves he 
 cannot but be exempted, and the Chinese Govern- 
 ment is bound to secure his exemption, because,^ 
 by treaties with foreign Powers, it has engaged* 
 to secure to any person practising or preacliing 
 Christianity within its dominions the free ex- 
 ercise of his religion. The Cliinese have faith 
 in much that the Christian does not believe in, and 
 when they compel a Christian to take part in cere- 
 monies condemned by his religion, or to subscribe- 
 funds in aid of the celebration of such ceremonies, 
 they are interfering with the free exercise of his. 
 religion, and against such interference he is entitled 
 to the protection of the Chinese Government. 
 
 Take, for instance, the case of prayer for rain,, 
 difference of usage in respect of which has been tiie 
 occasion, as I am informed, of more than one mis- 
 understanding between Chinese Christians and 
 non-Christians. Prayer for rain or for other 
 blessings, or for relief from drought, or for other 
 calamities, is not peculiar to China. But in Eng- 
 land, where we have Protestants, Romanists,. 
 Jews, and other persuasions, no one denomination 
 is ever allowed to compel another denomination to 
 offer up prayers except in its own way, or to sub- 
 scribe funds except for the buildiug of its own 
 chapels, or the liquidation of expenses required for 
 the celpbration of the ceremonies prescribed by its 
 own ritual. And the same tolerance is stipulated 
 for on behalf of Chinese Christians, whether 
 Greek,. Romish, or Protestant in the Treaties with 
 foreign Powers. 
 
 Article 4 lays down that, where Chinese and 
 foreigners live together, the law must be impar- 
 tially administered. This without doubt. But it 
 further seetns to imply that, in cases of homicide, 
 popular feeling will not be satisfied unless a life be 
 given for a life. 
 
 Under English law this is \fy no means SO 
 possible, as under the law of China. Experience 
 has shown that, in many cases, the latter will con- 
 demn a prisoner to death, where the law of Eng- 
 land would be satisfied by a penalty far less severe, 
 if, indeed, it were possible to punish the man at 
 all. It is to be deplored that misunderstandings 
 should arise from a difference in our codes ; but I 
 see no remedy for this until China shall see fit to- 
 revise the process of investigation now common in 
 her Courts. So long as evidence is wrung from 
 witnesses by torture, it is scarcely possible for the 
 authorities of a foreign Power to associate them- 
 selves with those of China in the trial of a criminal 
 case ; and unless the authorities of both nationali- 
 ties are present, there will always be a suspicion of.. 
 
SUPPLEMENT to the LONDON GAZETTE, December 14, 1871. 5611 
 
 unfairness on one side or the other. This difficulty 
 surmounted, there would be none in tlie way of 
 providing a code of laws to affect mixed cases ; 
 none, certainly, on the part of England : none, in 
 my belief, either, on the part of any other Power. 
 
 As to the complicity of persons other than tho,-e 
 directly charged with an offence, and by wliom it 
 ■can be shown that the latter were instigated to 
 commit it, I do not see why they should be allowed 
 to escape either punishment or indemnity. But 
 the charge of investigation, again, is very differ- 
 ently understood by the Chinese and the foreigner ; 
 and on this point I equally despair of a better 
 understanding until the international code before 
 suggested shall have been a<;reed to. 
 
 The i^rticle closes with the remarkable proposi- 
 tion, that if a missionary protect a Chinese wrong- 
 doer against his authorities, he, the missionary, 
 must be punished as the law would punish the 
 Chinese, or expelled the country. 
 
 I am at a loss to understand how any missionary 
 can prevent the arrest of a Chinese charged with 
 an offence against the law. Should a missionary 
 really attempt such intervention, the proper course, 
 as I have before observed, would be an immediate 
 appeal to the Consul or Minister of his nationality. 
 
 5. The passport question referred to in this 
 Article, does not seem to me to need any parti- 
 cular remark. The instances cited of exchange of 
 passports, or confusion of the names of persons 
 holding them, are but two or three in all. I cannot 
 think that when mistakes of the kind do occur, the 
 Legation concerned will be unable to furnish 
 satisfactory explanation, or that, if a passport were 
 unduly obtained or transferrtd by any person, 
 missionary, or other, the authorities of his nation 
 would refuse to take notice of it. I should be 
 glad to think that every question between China 
 and foreign Powers could be as easily disposed of. 
 
 In Article 6 it is proposed that no Chinese of 
 bad character should be allowed to embrace Chris- 
 tianity ; and instances are given of persons in the 
 far-west provinces, who, after entering the pro- 
 fession, continued to commit the gravest offences. 
 If this be the fact, why were the offenders not 
 seized, and tried by the district authorities ? It is 
 vain to lay the blame of their inaction upon the 
 few missionaries in their jurisdictions. They have 
 not hesitated on occasion to lay violent hands upon 
 the missionaries themselves.' In Kwei-chow, only 
 the year before last, three Romish missionaries 
 were seized by the authorities, and one of them 
 died of the ill-treatment he received. I do not 
 understand how the power of the mandarins can 
 be less over their own countrymen. 
 
 As to the exclusion of all but good men from 
 the profession, the Christian religion, as every 
 Treaty sets forth, is for the teaching of men to 
 become virtuous. Is it not then the duty of its 
 teachers, like the philosopher Mencius, to turn 
 away none who desire to be converted, " not to 
 scan the past, neither to reject those who tender 
 themselves." 
 
 If Chinese break the law once more, their pro- 
 fession as Christians will not screen them from the 
 penalty of the law ; and so with reference to 
 registration, if the Chinese Government chooses 
 to oblige all its subjects professing Christianity to 
 register themselves in any special fashion, it has, 
 no doubt, the power to do this. But I do not see 
 that it can expect the foreign missionary to be- 
 come its registering officer, and while I do not | 
 see either that by registration it would greatly j 
 further any legitimate object of good government, I 
 it might expose itself to tlie suspicion that some 
 action against Christians was contemplated that ' 
 
 B 2 
 
 would alarm the foreign Powers in relations with 
 it. 
 
 The population of China was estimated before 
 the Tae-ping rebellion at some 400,000,000. It 
 is alleged by some people that this total is now 
 reduced by one-half. Well, of the 200,000,000 
 that remnin, there may be 500,000 of Christians, 
 not more, of whom certainly a large number are 
 as well ordered and as well affected as any other 
 Chinese. I am at a loss to see that the Chinese 
 Government would gain much by insisting on 
 a return which would very probably prove 
 vexatious, and which, if it did, would invite the 
 remonstrance of all the Treaty Powers. 
 
 Article VII prescribes the forms which sliould 
 regulate intercourse between the missionary and 
 the authorities. Speaking for our own mission- 
 aries, I see no objection to these. The British 
 Government draws no distinction between the 
 missionary and any other of its non-otficial sub- 
 jects, and by Article XI of tlie Treaty of NaU- 
 king, "ping" (representation) is the form in 
 which subjects not holding official positions are 
 required to address the Chinese authorities. 
 
 Article VIII, and last, treats of the restoration 
 of buildings formerly belonging to Christians. 
 
 This question, which arises out of the engage- 
 meat contracted by the Chinese Government in 
 Article VI of the French Convention of the 25th 
 October, 1860, affects none but the Romanists, and 
 it is one, the solution of which would seem to rest 
 so exclusively with the Government of France, 
 that I do not feel free to discuss it. I shall only 
 add therefore, that, if in this particular the 
 Chinese Government finds its engagements diffi- 
 cult to discharge, it should avail itself of the 
 presence of its Minister in France to obtain a 
 relaxation of the conditions to which it agreed in 
 1860. 
 
 And this brings me to what I have so fre- 
 quently pressed upon the Yaraen as the one 
 means of securing an escape from difficulty where 
 a misunderstanding has commenced between the 
 Government of China and a foreign Government. 
 It is quite impossible that China should ever 
 attain to a just appreciation of what foreign 
 Powers expect of her, or that she should insure 
 from foreign Powers what she conceives due to 
 her, until she have honestly accepted the condi- 
 tions of official intercourse which are the sole 
 guarantees against internatioual differences. The 
 chief of these is an interchange of Representa-r 
 tives. I do not say that it is a panacea for all 
 evil ; but it is incontestable that without it wars 
 would be of far more frequent recurrence, and 
 till China is represented in the West, I see no 
 hope of our ever having done with the incessant 
 recriminations and bickerings between the Yamgn 
 and foreign Legations, by which the lives of Di- 
 plomatic Agents in Peking are made weary. If 
 China is wronged, she must make herself heard ; 
 and, on the other hand, if she would abstain f loin 
 giving offence, she must learn what is passing in 
 the, world beyond her. 
 
 I shall add to this long commentary but two 
 observations. In the opening of your Excellency's 
 note you remark that, in trade, there is little to 
 object to. If this be so, it is a matter of regret 
 that so many commercial questions have to be 
 referred from the ports to Peking ; and that, 
 even after reference, when settlement is obtained 
 at all, months, if not years, must first be allowed 
 to elapse. 
 
 Foreign Governments will be by no means 
 disposed to admit that our commercial rclat'ons 
 are all that they could desire. 
 
5612 SUPPLEMENT to the LONDON GAZETTE, December 14, 1871. 
 
 Again, referring to the Tien-tsin massacre, 
 your Excellency explains that it was the result of 
 the peoj)le's exasperation against Romanism ; and 
 you express a fear lest, after the severe punish- 
 ment inflicted, and the ample indemnities awarded, 
 Christians should be emboldened to go greater 
 lengths than heretofore in the direction which is 
 unpopular. 
 
 I have communicated to the Prince of Kung 
 the expression of my Government's dissatisfaction 
 at the tardiness and incompleteness with which 
 that fearful crime was disposed of. I am per- 
 tuaded that no foreign G-overnment has thought 
 otherwise of the action of the Chinese Govern- 
 ment ; and that, so far from sharing your 
 Excellency's belief in the encouragement of 
 Christians to greater boldness, the evil for which 
 all Powers alike are on the watch, is the moles- 
 tation of those who, it has been shown, can be 
 molested with so little risk of consequences to the 
 aggressor. 
 
 It is vain to attempt to trace the evil deed to 
 its author ; to discover who primarily commenced 
 the agitation against the Romanists ; to whom it 
 occurred, while not a child was missing, to revive 
 the horrible calumny that the Romanists were 
 kidnapping children for hateful purposes. It is 
 sufficient i'or my present purpose to repeat what I 
 had the honour to observe to the Prince of Kung 
 in my despatch of the 9th of July last, that the 
 Government is responsible for that ignorance of 
 the people which alone can render possible their 
 perpetration of an act so barbarous upon a pre- 
 text so ridiculous ; and the fact that the people's 
 continuance in such darkness is due to a want of 
 enlightenment on the part of the Government, will 
 not be held to excuse the Government when 
 foreign life and property are jeopardized by the 
 simple people whom the Government is not wise 
 enough to teach. 
 
 Compliments, 
 (Signed) THOMAS FRANCIS WADE. 
 
 Earl Granville to Mr. Wade. 
 
 SiK, Foreign Office, August 21, 1S7\. 
 
 HER Majesty's Government have hitherto 
 abstained from offering any observations upon the 
 . Circular of the Chinese Government on the sub- 
 ject of religious missions, of which a translation 
 has been communicated to them by the French 
 Chargd d'Affaires, in the expectation that they 
 might have received some Reports from you re- 
 garding it. As, however, they learn from your 
 telegraphic despatches that it will be some time 
 before they will be in possession of your views, 
 they consider that they cannot allow this impor- 
 tant paper to remain longer unnoticed, and I have 
 accordingly now to state to you the impression 
 which has been made by it upon Her Majesty's 
 Government. 
 
 Her Majesty's Government must, in the first 
 place, protest against the general assertions con- 
 tained in the Circular and accompanying regula- 
 tions with regard to missionary enterprise in 
 China, no distinction being made between the pro- 
 ceedings of missionaries over whom Her M^esty's 
 Government have no control, and of the British 
 missionaries, for whose actions alone can Great 
 Britain be held responsible. Tliey must, more- 
 over, remark that, of the instances of alleged 
 abuses cited, there is not one which is in any way 
 
 connected with any British missionary establish- 
 ment. 
 
 Her Majesty's Government might acDordingly 
 have contented themselves with replyirtg to th& 
 Chinese Government that the Circular did not 
 allege any complaints against British subjects,, 
 and that they could not enter into a discussion of 
 matters not directly affecting the relations between 
 Great Britain and China. 
 
 Her Majesty's Government do not, however, 
 desire to lay too much stress upon this point. 
 They believe it to be the common interest and 
 desire of all the Governments having Treaties 
 with China to co-operate with the Government of 
 the Empire in maintaining the relations between 
 China and their respective countries on the most 
 friendly footing, and Ker Majesty's Government 
 will always be ready to consider any representa- 
 tions which the Government of China may have 
 to offer with that object. 
 
 On the particular question to which the Circular 
 relates, the policy and practice of the Government 
 of Great Britain have been unmistakable. They 
 have uniformly declared, and now repeat, that 
 they do not claim to afford any species of pro- 
 tection to Chinese Christians which may be con- 
 strued as withdrawing them from their native 
 allegianc(j, nor do they desire to secure to British 
 missionaries any privileges or immunities beyond 
 those granted by Treaty to other British subjects. 
 The Bishop of Victoria was requested to inti- 
 mate this to the Protestant Missionary Societies 
 in the letter addressed to him by Mr. Hammond 
 by the Earl of Clarendon's direction on the 1 3th 
 of November, 18G9,* and to point out that they 
 would " do well to warn converts that although 
 the Chinese Government may be bound by Treaty 
 not to persecute, on account of their conversion, 
 Chinese subjects who may embrace Christianity, 
 there is no provision in the Treaty by which a 
 claim can be made on behalf of converts for 
 exemption from the obligations of their natural 
 allegiance, and from the jurisdiction of the local 
 authorities. Under the creed of their adoption, 
 as under that of their birth, Chinese converts to 
 Christianity still owe obedience to the law of 
 China, and ii^ they assume to set themselves above 
 those laws, in reliance upon foreign protection, 
 they must take the consequence of their own in- 
 discretion, for no British authority, at all events, 
 can interfere to save them." 
 
 On tlie other hand. Her Majesty's Government 
 cannot forget that the free exercise of the Chris- 
 tian religion in China is stipulated for by the 
 Vlllth Article of the Treaty of the 20th June, 
 1858, which states that "the Christian religion, 
 as professed by Protestants or Roman Catholics, 
 inculcates the practice of virtue, and teaches man 
 to do as he would be done by. Persons teaching 
 or professing it, therefore, shall alike be entitled 
 to the protection of the Chinese authorities; nor 
 shall any such peaceably pursuing their calling, 
 and not offending against the laws, be persecuted 
 or mterfered with." Her Majesty's Government, 
 therefore, although they have given it to be most 
 distinctly understood that conversion to Chris- 
 tianity gives no tiile to British protection against 
 the operation of the laws of the land, could not be 
 indiBerent to the persecution of Christians for 
 professing the Christian faith. 
 
 The impracticable nature of the Regulations 
 proposed by the Chinese Government has been so 
 convincingly show« in tfae note from Mr. Low 
 the i;epresentative of the United States, to the 
 Yamen of the 20th of March last, that it is un- 
 
 Parlianwmary Pap^TS, " China, No. 9, 1870," 
 
 p. IS. 
 
SUPPLEMENT to the LONDON aAZBTTE, December 14, 1871. 5613 
 
 necessary for Her Majesty's Government to do 
 more than refer to some of the pTinoipal objections 
 to their acceptance. ^ 
 
 The 1 St Regulation does not apply to the British 
 Missionary Societies, as they do not support any 
 orphanages in China. Besr Mkjesty's Govern- 
 ment could not obviously accede to Regulations 
 which they had no power to enforce. If the 
 missionaries of other countries have conducted 
 such institutions in a manner to give just cause 
 of suspicion to the people of China, Her Ma- 
 jesty's Government feel no doubt that, on a 
 proper representation being made of the facts, the 
 cause of complaint -will be removed ; but they 
 cannot admit that such an atrocious crime as the 
 massacre at Tien-tsin can be excused by ascribing 
 it to the prejudices of the ignorant. 
 
 The 2nd Regulation requires that women ought 
 no longer to enter the churches, nor should Sisters 
 of Charity live in China to teach religion. The 
 objection to women frequenting Christian churches 
 has, Her Majesty's Government understand, been 
 met at Fatshan and elsewhere by a screen having 
 been erected to divide the sexes. To prevent 
 women altogether from attending Divine worship 
 would be in violation of the freedom of religion 
 provided in the Treaty, and would be contrary to 
 the fundamental principles of Christianity. As 
 the Chinese Government are most probably aware 
 that there are no Sisters of Charity attached to 
 the British Missionary Societies, but Her Majesty's 
 Government could not countenance any Regula- 
 tion which would cast a slur upon a sisterhood 
 whose blameless lives and noble acts of devotion 
 in the cause of humanity are known throughout 
 the world. 
 
 The 3rd and 4th Articles, as respects Chinese 
 Christians, have already been dealt with in the 
 preceding part of this despatch ; but Her Majesty's 
 Government cannot allow the claim that the mis- 
 sionaries residing in China must conform to the 
 laws and customs of China to pass unchallenged. 
 
 It is the duty of a missionary, as of every other 
 British subject, to avoid giving offence as far as 
 possible to the Chinese authorities or people, but 
 he does not forfeit the rights to which he is entitled 
 under the Treaty as a British subject because of 
 his missionary character. 
 
 The 5th Article seems to be directed against 
 French missionaries. The IXth Article of the 
 British Treaty contains provisions to prevent any 
 abuses of passports borne by British subjects ; 
 and no passports are granted by British Diplomatic 
 or Consular authorities to persons not of British 
 nationality. 
 
 In this regulation, as in the 3rd, 4th, and othj 
 mention is made of occurrences in Sze-chuen 
 Her Majesty's Government have urged upon the 
 Chinese Government the expediency of their 
 opening this province to foreign trade, and estab- 
 lishing a port there at which foreign Consuls should 
 reside. If the statements which have been made 
 to the Government of Peking with regard to the 
 irregular proceedings of foreign missionaries and 
 their converts are well founded, the Chinese Go- 
 vernment would do well to consider whether the 
 presence of foreign consular authorities is not re- 
 quired to control the improper or ill-directed 
 exercise of the Treaty privileges conferred on their 
 countrymen. Her Ms^esty's Government helieve , 
 that there are no British Protestant missionary 
 establishments in Sze-chuen, but it is impossible to 
 prevent enterprising persons penett^flhg'throii^ 
 a country. Sooner or later they will find their 
 way ; and the true interest of China is to facili- 
 tate rather than to restrict the flow of foreign 
 
 enterprise, and to direct it in the manner most 
 advantageous to that mutually beneficial commer- 
 cial intercourse on which the prosperity and 
 happiness of nations so largely depend. 
 
 Besides showing, as Mr, Low has pointed ou^ 
 a complete misconception of the nature of the 
 Christian religion, the 6th Regulation is open to 
 the objection that, by constituting the Christians 
 in China a class separated from the rest of the 
 population, it would lead to the very evil of which 
 it is the desire of the Chinese Government to get 
 rid, as the Christians would inevitably regard that 
 separation as conferring on them privileges, for 
 the maintenance of which they must trust to the 
 protection of the Powers in whose Treaties with 
 China the freedom of the Christian religion is 
 provided for. 
 
 The 7th Regulation calls for no special obser- 
 vation. 
 
 The 8th Regulation does not apply to British 
 missionaries, who have no ecclesiastical property 
 in China to reclaim, and seems to refer to mis- 
 understandings with regard to the operation of 
 the Vlth Article of the Treaty with France of 
 the 2oth of October, 1860. 
 
 Her Majesty's Government trust that the Chinese 
 Government will not suppose that, in withholding 
 their assent to these Regulations they are actuated 
 by any other motive than the wish to avoid em- 
 barrassing a question, already of sufficient difficulty, 
 by cumbrous and impracticable regulations. 
 
 The remedy for the alleged assumption by mis- 
 sionaries of a protective jurisdiction over native 
 Christians, which constitutes the gist of the accu- 
 sations brought forward in the Circular and Regu- 
 lations, appears to Her Majesty's Government to 
 be sufficiently aflbrded by the Treaties. 
 
 If British missionaries behave improperly, they 
 should "be handed over to the nearest Consul 
 for punishment," like other British subjects, as 
 provided in the IXth Article of the Treaty of 
 Tien-tsin. If the local authorities consider that 
 Her Majesty's Consuls do not in any instance 
 afford redress for their complaints, they can appeal 
 through the Government at Peking to Her 
 Majesty's Minister, in the ordinary course of inter- 
 national usage. Both Her Majesty's Minister and 
 Consuls have extensive powers for maintaining the 
 peace, order, and good government of Her Ma- 
 jesty's subjects in China ; and if those powers 
 should be proved to be inadequate, Her Majesty's 
 Government would readily increase them ; but 
 until it can be proved that Her Majesty's Minister 
 and Consuls are unable to control Her Majesty's 
 subjects in China by the exercise of the powers 
 confided to them. Her Majesty's Government must 
 decline to supplement the existing Treaties by 
 regulations which, although only intended to deal 
 with a particular class of British subjects, would 
 undoubtedly subject the whole British community 
 in China, to a constant interference in their 
 intercourse with the native population of a most 
 vexatious description. 
 
 I am, &c., 
 
 (Signed) GRANVILLE. 
 
 Earl Granville to Mr. Wade. 
 
 Foreign Office, 
 Sir, August 31, 1871. 
 
 HER Majesty's Government approve the note 
 of which a copy was inclosed in your despatch 
 
5614 SUPPLEMENT to the LONDON GAZETTE, December U, 1871. 
 
 of jthe 8tli of June, which you proposed to address 
 to'the Minister Wen Siang in reply to the Circular 
 of the Chinese Government upon the missionary 
 question. 
 
 The draft of my despatch to you of the 2l8t 
 instant on this subject had been communicated 
 
 to the French, North German, Eussian, and 
 American Governments before your despatch of 
 the 8th of June had Iwen received. 
 
 I am, &c. 
 
 (Signed) 
 
 GRANVILLE. 
 
 Thursday, December 14, 1871. 
 Price One Shilling.