170 



CHINA. 



many of them athletes, and some of them men 

 of fortune. The improvements begun in the 

 military organization give a new importance 

 to the class of medical missionaries, who in 

 their work of organizing hospitals become an 

 adjunct of the Chinese army. The number of 

 Roman Catholic missionaries scattered through- 

 out the empire was estimated in the beginning 

 of 1885 at 700 Europeans and 560 natives; the 

 number of converts was variously estimated at 

 from 500,000 to 1,000,000. The number of 

 Protestant missionaries was about 360, with 

 22,000 nominal converts. 



Mission from the Vatican. While the French 

 war was still in progress, Pope Leo endeav- 

 ored to enter into relations with the court at 

 Pekin and secure protection for the mission- 

 aries and Christians of the Catholic faith in 

 China. During the eighteenth century, Roman 

 Catholic missionaries were honored with the 

 intimacy of Chinese emperors, and aided in 

 their efforts to make converts. At the present 

 time missionaries are regarded with disfavor 

 by the officials, and their converts are outcasts 

 among the people. Whenever any occasion, 

 such as the French war, prompts an outbreak 

 of mob violence, they become the victims of 

 bloody persecution. In the early part of 1885 

 the Canton populace was inflamed against the 

 Christians by the native press ; Shamien was 

 burned and plundered, and all the Catholic 

 and Protestant chapels in the adjacent prov- 

 ince were destroyed. The extra-territoriality 

 which France secured for missionaries by the 

 treaty of 1860, and the endeavors of the latter 

 to extend their privileges to their converts, has 

 been a fertile cause of difficulties with officials 

 in the interior. The interference of mission- 

 aries in the native judicial administration on 

 behalf of Chinese Christians has been the cause 

 of frequent diplomatic disputes. The success- 

 ful intervention of the diplomatic representa- 

 tives of France, who assume to be the protect- 

 ors of all Roman Catholics in the East, and the 

 political powers thus secured to the mission- 

 aries, only rendered Christianity troublesome 

 and obnoxious to the authorities. In May, 1882, 

 a leading Chinese statesman made an official 

 proposition to the Holy See for a change in the 

 political relations of the missionaries, intended 

 to remove the causes of constant friction be- 

 tween them and the officials. On the outbreak 

 of the war with France, orders were given by 

 the Government not to molest Frenchmen. 

 Nevertheless, persecutions of missionaries and 

 native converts took place in all parts of the 

 empire. Pope Leo wrote a letter to the Em- 

 peror, dated Feb. 1, 1885, in which he thanked 

 him for the edict for the protection of the 

 Christians, and implored him to extend his 

 patronage so that they suffer no harm. The 

 missive was intrusted to Father Giulianelli, 

 who had been a missionary in China. He was 

 accorded a reception upon his arrival at Pekin 

 such as is never given to a diplomatic repre- 

 sentative. He discussed the proposition made 



three years before with the Chinese ministers, 

 and returned to Rome in July with the sug- 

 gestions of the Chinese Government. The 

 Vatican and the Pekin authorities are said to 

 have both agreed to the plan of the Chinese 

 statesman. This solution of the missionary 

 question transfers the control of the interests 

 of the missionaries of the Roman Catholic 

 Church from the French minister, whose rela- 

 tions with them were broken by the French 

 war, to an accredited legate of the Pope, who 

 will permanently reside at Pekin, and will be 

 treated on the same footing as the ministers ot 

 the powers. All complaints of Roman Catho- 

 lic missionaries, of whatever nationality, are 

 to be addressed to him, and he will be at lib- 

 erty to address any representations he may see 

 fit to the Chinese Government. 



The War with France. At the beginning of 

 1885 the Chinese had won successes in Ton- 

 quin, and were better prepared to cope with 

 the French in Formosa and the China seas, 

 so far as concerned armaments and defenses. 

 There was also a strong war-feeling among 

 the masses. The wealthy and official classes, 

 however, who had been forced to contribute 

 to the military expenses, were desirous of 

 peace. The backbone of the Chinese resist- 

 ance was broken ; but the situation was so en- 

 tirely analogous in France, that there was a 

 motive on both sides to continue the conflict 

 in the hope of the other Government yielding 

 first to the exigence of finance and internal 

 politics. Moreover, the proposals of the French 

 Government before the Tsung-li-Yamen re- 

 quired, in addition to the ratification of the con- 

 vention of Tientsin, the payment of a heavy war 

 indemnity, which would strain the financial 

 resources of the Imperial Government more 

 than providing a larger sum for defense, be- 

 sides the sacrifice of honor. Prince Chun and 

 the other ministers in power were anxious to 

 end the dangerous state of things; but, like 

 the French ministers, they were fettered by 

 their previous declarations. At a meeting of 

 the new Council, called to consider the French 

 proposals, the Empress commanded the irreso- 

 lute ministers to consult their predecessors, 

 Prince Kung and Pao-Chung-Tang ; and, when 

 the latter declined to advise because they did 

 not have the threads of the negotiations, she 

 punished the ex-ministers with disgrace. 



A national spirit and feeling of patriotism 

 that the Imperial Government had not before 

 been able to enlist was now kindled against the 

 French. Chinamen in America, Australia, 

 Java, and Ceylon sent contributions to a war 

 fund. Private contributions were liberally 

 given in China. Official peculators emptied 

 their hoards, though not always willingly. 



German military and naval officers out of 

 service volunteered in large numbers, and 

 flocked to China, in all kinds of disguises, to 

 serve as military instructors and commanders 

 for the Chinese. They were secretly engaged 

 in Europe by Li-Fong-Pao. In answer to a 



