PROTECTORATE
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PROTECTORATE
first French church at Peking: the emperor donated
the ground, within the limits of the imperial city, and
the building materials, while the French king supplied
the money to pay for the labour, the decoration, and
the magnificent liturgical ornaments. Several other
churches erected in the provinces through the munifi-
cence of Louis XIV increased the prestige of France
throughout the empire. Under Louis X\' the mission
in China, like many other things, was somewhat over-
looked, but the government did not wholly neglect it.
It found a zealous protector in Louis XVI's minister,
Berlin, but it felt keenly the suppression of the Soci-
ety of Jesus and the French Revolution with all its
consequences, which dried up the source of the apos-
tolate in Europe. It was a handful of French mission-
aries (Lazarists or members of the Society of Foreign
Missions), assisted by some Chinese priests, who pre-
served the Faith throughout the persecutions of the
early nineteenth century, during which several of
them were martyred.
Treaties of T'ien-tsin. — When the English, after the so-called Opium War, imposed on China the Treaty of Nanking (1842), they did not at first ask for re- ligious liberty, but the murder of the Lazarist John Gabriel Perboyre (11 Sept., 1840) becoming known, they added an article stipulating that thenceforth a missionary taken in the interior of the country should not be tried by the Chinese authorities, but should be delivered to the nearest consul of his coun- try. On 24 Oct., 1844, Theodose de Lagren(5, French ambassador, secured further concessions which in- augurated a new era. The treaty properly so-called, which was signed on that date at Wampoa (near Canton), speaks only of hberty for the French to settle in certain territory in the open ports, but, at the request of the ambassador, an imperial edict was sent to the mandarins and at least partially promulgated, which praised the Christian religion and removed the prohibition for Chinese to practise it. However, the murder of the missionary Chapdeleine (1856) and other facts showed the insufficiency of the guarantees accorded to Europeans; to obtain others, England and France had recourse to arms. The war (1858-60), which showed China its weakness, was ended by the treaties of T'ien-tsin (24-25 Oct., 1860). They con- tained an article which stipulated freedom for the missionaries to preach and for the Chinese to embrace Christianity. This article was included in the t reaties which other powers a little later concluded with China. To the treaty with France was also added a supple- mentary article, which reads as follows: "An imperial edict conformable to the imperial edict of 20 Feb., 1846 [that secured by M. de Lagrene], will inform the people of the whole empire that soldiers and civilians be permitted to propagate and practise the religion of the Lord of Heaven [Catholic], to assemble for explanation of doctrine, to build churches wherein to celebrate their ceremonies. Those [the man- darins] who henceforth make searches or arbitrary arrests must be punished. Furthermore, the temples of the Lord of Heaven, together with the schools, cemeteries, lands, buildings etc., which were con- fiscated formerly when the followers of the religion of the Lord of Heaven were persecuted, shall be either restored or compensated for. Restoration is to be made to the French ambassador residing at Peking, who will transfer the property to the Christians of the localities concerned. In all the provinces also the missionaries shall be permitted to rent or purchase lands and erect buildings at will". The general and exclusive right of protection granted to the French over all the Catliolic missions in China could not be more explicitly recognized than it was by this agree- ment, which iiKulc the French ambassador the indis- pensable intcrmciliary in the matter of all restitutions. And till' represent all ves of France never ceased to make full use of this right in favour of the missionaries,
whom from the middle of the nineteenth century a
revival of Apostohc zeal drew from all countries to
China. From them the passports necessary to pene-
trate into the interior of the country were regularly
sought, and to them were addressed complaints and
claims, which it was their duty to lay before the
Chinese Government. The French ministers also
secured, not without difficulty, the necessary additions
to the Treaty of T'ien-tsin — such, for instance, as the
Berthemy Convention (1865) with the Gerard addi-
tion (1895). regulating the important question of the
purchase of lands and buildings in the interior.
Rii'als of the French Protectorate. — The foregoing historical sketch shows that the ancient French right of protection over the missions, in both Turkey and China, was established as much by constant exercise and by ser\'ices rendered as by treaties. Further- more, it was based on the fimdamental right of the Church, derived from God Himself, to preach the Gospel everywhere and to receive from Christian powers the assistance necessary to enable her to per- form her task untrammelled. The desire to further the Church's mission, which always guided the French monarchs to a greater or less extent, does not influ- ence the present government. The latter endeavours, however, to preserve the prerogative of its predeces- sors, and continues to lend protection, though much diminished, to the Catholic missionary undertakings — • even to those directed by religious who are proscribed in France (e. g. it subsidizes the Jesuit schools in Syria). The advantages of the protectorate are too obvious even to the least clerical of the ministers for them not to attempt to retain them, whatever the resulting contradictions in their policy. It is very evident that France owes to tliis protectorate through- out the Levant and in the Far East a prestige and a moral influence which no commerce or conquest could ever have given her. Thanks to the protectorate, the treasures of respect, gratitude, and affection won by the Catholic missionaries have to a certain extent become the property of France; and, if the French entertained doubts as to the utility of this time- honoured privilege (a few anti-clericals attempt to obscure the evidence on this point), the efforts of rival nations to secure a share of it would prove enhghtening. These efforts have been frequent, es- pecially since 1870, and have been to a large extent successful.
As early as 1875, at the time of the negoti- ations between France and Egypt with regard to ju- diciary reform, the German Government declared "that it recognized no exclusive right of protection of any power in behalf of Catholic establishments in the East, and that it reserved its rights with regard to German subjects belonging to any of these establish- ments." In Germany and Italy a paragraph of article sixty-two of the Treaty of Berlin, which had been signed bj' all the European powers in 1878, was used as a weapon against the exclusive protectorate of France: "Ecclesiastics, pilgrims, and monks of all nationalities travelling in Turkej' in Europe or Turkey in Asia shall enjoy the same rights, advantages, and privileges. The official right of protection of the diplomatic and consular agents of the Powers in Tur- key is recognized, with regard both to the above-men- tioned persons and to their religious, charitable, and ot her est ablishment s in t he Holy Places and elsewhere." The passage immediately following this paragraph in the article was overlooked: "The acquired rights of France are explicitly reserved, and there shall be no interference with the statu quo in the Holy Places." Tims the protection guaranteed to all ecclesiastics, etc., no matter what their nationality or religion, as well as the generally recognized right of all the powers to watch over this protection, should be imderstood with the reservation of the "ac<iuired rights" of France i. e. of its ancient protectorate in behalf of
