Directory_and_Chronicle_1879 — Page 702

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CONVENTION BETWEEN FRANCE AND CHINA.

Art. VI.-It shall be promulgated throughout the length and breadth of the land, 'n the terms of the Imperial Edict of the 20th February, 1846, that it is permitted to all people in all parts of China to propagate and practice the "teachings of the Lord of Heaven," to meet together for the preaching of the doctrine, to build churches and to worship; further, all such as indiscriminately arrest [Christians] shall be duly punished; and such churches, sc ools, c ueteries, lands, and buildings, as were owned on former occasions by persecuted Christians shall be paid for, and the money handed to the French Representative at Peking, for transmission to the Christians in the localities concerned. It is, in addition, permitted to French Missionaries to rent and purchase land in all the provinces, and to erect buildin:s thereon at pleasure.

Art. VII.-On the day on which the Ministers of the two countries affix their seals and signatures, the port of Tientsin, in the province of Chih-li, shall be opened to trade on the same conditions as the other ports. The provisions of the present Cnvention shall take effect from the day on which it is signed, no separate Ratification of the same be ng necessary; they shall be observed and enforced just as if forming part of the text of the Treaty of Tientsin. And on the receipt of Five hundred thousand Taels at Tientsin, the French forces, Naval and Military, shall retire from Ti ntsin and occupy the two ports of Taku and Yen-tai (Chefoo), where they are to remain until the payment in full of the Indemnity,-upon which the French forces, at whatever places stationed, shall one and all be withdrawn from Chinese territory ; but the Naval and Military Commanders in Chief may encamp soldiers for the winter in Tientsin, and on the payment of the ready money indemnity [? the Taels 500,000 to be paid 30th November, at Tientsin] th force shall retire from Tientsin.

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Art. VIII.-On the exchange of the Ratifications of the Treaty of 1858, Chusan shall at once be evacuated by the French forces now stationed there; and on the payment in fall of the sum of Five hundred thousand Taels for which this Convention provides-with the exception of [that portion of] the force which being about to winter at Tientsiu, will remain there for a time, and which it is considered inconvenient to at once withd aw, as is stated in the seventh Article, the various forces occupying Tientsin shall be withdrawn from that city, and shall retire to the Taku forts, the North Coast of Tang-chow, and the city of Canton, where they will be stationed until the Indemnity of Eight Millions of Taels, guaranteed by this Convention, shall have been paid in full; the occupant forces, as above referred to, shall be entirely withdrawu.

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Art. IX. On the exchange of the Ratifications of the Treaty of 1858, His Imperial Majesty the Emperor of China will, by Decree, notify to the High Authorities of every Province, that Chinese choosing to take service in the French Colonies, or other ports beyond the sea, are at perfect liberty to enter into engagements with French sul jects for that purpose, and to ship themselves and their families on board any vessel at any of the open ports of China; also that the High Authorities aforesaid shall, in concert with the Representative in China of His Imperial Majesty the Emperor of the French, frame such regulations for the protection of Chinese emigrating as above, as the circumstances of th different ports may demand.

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Art X.-A mistake having crept into the text of the 22nd Article of the Treaty con luded at Tientsin in 'he year 1858, to the effect that Tonnage Dues would be charged on French ships over one hundred and fitty tous burthen at the rate of Five Mac per ton, it is now agreel that on vessels of more than one hundred and fifty tons Tonnage Dues shall be levied at the rate of Four Mace per ton: on vessels of less than one hundred and fifty tous, One mace per ton shall be collected. From henc forth, French vessels entering port shall each and all pay Tonnage Dues in accordance with the rates hereby fixed.

Signed and Sealed at Peking, by the Plenipotentiaries of China and France, on the 25th day of October, in the year 1860, being the 12th day of the 2nd month of the 10th year of the reign of Hien-Fung.

(Signed)

[L.8.]

BARON GROS.

[L.8.]

PRINCE KUNG.