Mr. Denby to Mr.
Blaine.
Legation of
the United States,
Peking, May 28, 1891.
(Received July 2.)
No. 1314.]
Sir: I have the honor to inclose herewith a copy of
an interview had by a committee of the foreign representatives with the
members of the foreign office on the 25th instant.
It was agreed that the ringleaders of the riot at Wuhu should be punished;
that two native Sisters of Charity, who are charged with witchcraft, should
be discharged from custody; that the officials who were negligent should be
punished; and that an imperial edict should be issued denouncing attacks on
missionaries and converts and rendering local officials responsible for the
protection of foreigners.
I have, etc.,
[Inclosure 1 in No. 1314.]
Report of interview with the tsung-li
yamên.
At a conference at the tsung-li yamên on May 25, 1891, at which were
present on the Chinese side his highness Prince Ching and their
excellencies Hsu Keng Shen, Sun-yi-wen, Hsü Yun-i, Chang Yin-huan, and
on the foreign side the representatives of France, Germany, and Great
Britain, acting for and on behalf of the representatives of treaty
powers present at Peking.
The ministers of the tsung-li yamên, after a long discussion, during
which, on their part, the calumnies brought forward against missionaries
in general and foundling asylums in particular were repeatedly mentioned
as a fit subject of judicial inquiry, a view strongly objected to by the
foreign representatives, finally made the following promises:
- (1)
- With regard to the Wuhu affair, that the ringleaders would be
punished, as also the officials who had shown want of
forethought and energy, and that the judicial proceedings
against two native Sisters of Charity, who had been accused of
witchcraft, would be stopped.
- (2)
- With regard to the general question of the protection of
foreign lives and property and the settlement of pending
affiairs, that the members of the yamên would consult together
and place before the Emperor a memorial praying for the issue of
an edict or edicts ordering the issue of proclamations by the
high provincial authorities in the Yangtse provinces, by
imperial order, denouncing the accusations brought against
missionaries and converts, by placards and otherwise, as
unfounded and calumnious and threatening punishment against all
who spread such accusations, rendering the provincial
authorities responsible for the protection of foreigners within
their jurisdiction, and ordering the settlement of all pending
eases in accordance with the requirements of justice.
On their side the Chinese ministers pointed out that missionaries should
be warned to be more careful in future in the selection of their
converts, and that they (the missionaries) should not be allowed to
protect their converts and interfere on their behalf with the action of
the Chinese authorities.
The foreign representatives present replied that it would be exceedingly
difficult to invite the missionaries to greater care in the selection of
their converts, as even in the service of the Chinese Government bad
characters were not infrequently found out only after a considerable
number of years, but that, if the tsung-li yamên would add to their note
in which they would inform the foreign representatives of the issue of
the imperial edicts which had formed the subject of to-day’s conference
what they had just stated, the foreign representatives would in their
answer willingly repeat the declaration that the fact of a Chinaman
adopting the Christian religion did not withdraw him from the Chinese
jurisdiction; but, on the other hand, they must insist that, according
to the treaties nobody was molested or persecuted for following or
professing the Christian religion.
[Page 401]
[Inclosure 2 in No. 1314.]
Joint dispatch from the representatives of France,
the German Empire, and Great Britain with reference to the decree
mentioned in the interview above.
The representatives of France, the German Empire, and Great Britain have
the honor to draw the attention of his highness Prince Ching and their
excellencies the ministers of the tsung-li yamên to the necessity of the
imperial decree or decrees, for which the tsung-li yamên promised, at
the conference held on the 25th instant, to memorialize the Throne,
being published by the Peking Gazette.
They also beg to point out to his highness and their excellencies that,
in order to avoid misunderstandings and a future reopening of the
question, it would be very desirable that the yamên should communicate,
informally, to them the draft of the memorial they intend to present to
the Throne, so as to allow them to point out any alteration which, in
their opinion, would contribute to a satisfactory settlement of the
question before them, the gravity of which they can not but impress most
seriously upon the members of the yamên.
The representatives of France, the German Empire, and Great Britain avail
themselves, etc.
