when this failed to bring them to terms a strong detachment of the British army was marched through Tientsin to strike terror into its officials and inhabitants. Lord Elgin in his diary records the climax of these demonstrations: "I have not written for some days, but they have been busy ones. We went on fighting and bullying, and getting the poor commissioners to concede one point after another, till Friday the 25th." The next day the treaty was signed, and he closes the record as follows: "Though I have been forced to act almost brutally, I am China's friend in all this." There can be no doubt that notwithstanding the seeming paradox, Lord Elgin was thoroughly sincere in this declaration, and that his entire conduct was influenced by a high sense of duty and by what he regarded as the best interests of China.
The four treaties, negotiated separately, have a general similarity in their stipulations, and as each contains the "most favored nation" clause, the special stipulations of any became effective for all the powers. The important features of the treaties of Tientsin of 1858 over those of 1842 and 1844 were the concessions, first, as to diplomatic privileges, second, as to enlarged trade and travel, and third, as to religious toleration. Direct means of access to the government were provided, and the right of visit and residence of diplomatic representatives at Peking was secured. The stipulations as to trade, travel, residence, ownership of property, duties, etc., which had proved so defective or inefficiently enforced under the earlier treaties, were enlarged and made more specific in their terms.
