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UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA AT LOS ANGELES
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Wi\t B.tlation of Biplotnac^ to iforeign Mi^^iom
THE
RELATION OF DIPLOMACY TO FOREIGN MISSIONS
BY THE HONORABLE
JOHN W. FOSTER
Authorixtd Edition
THE UNIVERSITY PRESS OF SEWANEE TENNESSEE
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AN ADDRESS DELIVERED AT THE FIFTH
INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION OF THE
STUDENT VOLUNTEER MOVEMENT
NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE, MCMVI
425775
THE RELATION OF DIPLOMACY TO FOREIGN MISSIONS
Ihe greater part of the entire foreign mission effort now being put forth by the Christian churches of the world is directed towards Asia. Across that vast continent from west to east stretches a series of non- Christian countries — the Turkish Empire, Persia, Tibet, China, Corea and Japan. The first two are ruled by tyrants inspired by a bitter hatred to Chris- tianity, and none of them except Japan has any of the restraints of a Constitution or an orderly adminis- tration of justice and law.
For these reasons the Christian nations have found it necessary to exact from them the observance of what is termed the practice of exterritoriality. This is the exemption under certain conditions of the citi- zens or subjects of the Christian nations in those countries from their laws and jurisdiction. It is based upon the theory that for certain purposes they carry with them the territorial status they would have if in their own country. This exemption is regulated by treaties or other diplomatic agreements, and is not uni- form for all the countries. In general it may be stated, subject to certain exceptions, that an American citizen resident or found in those countries when charged with a crime or an offense against the local law or custom, must be tried by his own diplomatic or consular rep-
6 THE RELATION OF DIPLOMACY
resentative, and if found guilty the punishment must be meted out by such officer. American citizens also enjoy other privileges in non-Christian countries which I have not time to detail. On this account American diplomatic representatives in Asia have more intimate and responsible duties towards their countrymen than those accredited to Christian powers.
The system of exterritoriality is one which makes the governments where it is enforced very restive, and they look forward more or less impatiently to the time when it may be abolished. For nearly half a century after Commodore Perry opened the gates of Japan, that country labored under the exterritorial disability, and it was not until some years after she had adopted a Constitution which guaranteed freedom of religious belief and worship and the other civil rights, and had put in operation a system of jurisprudence and an ad- ministration of justice modeled after that of the Chris- tian nations, that she was released from that thraldom.
The resentment of non-Christian countries because of the practice of exterritoriality is more likely to manifest itself against missionaries than other classes of foreigners, and the diplomatic representatives of some Governments are more on the alert for the main- tenance of their rights than others. The French rep- resentatives in Asia have shown special zeal for the defense of their missionaries, who are almost exclus- ively Catholics. Whether their conduct will be af- fected by the recent abrogation of the Papal Concor-
TO FOREIGN MISSIONS 7
dat remains to be seen. Germany made the murder of two German Catholic missionaries the occasion of the seizure of an important Chinese port, a large area of territory, and the practical control of an entire province. The Government of the United States has held that American missionaries in foreign lands were entitled to the same protection as American merchants or any other class lawfully in such lands.
But in most of these Asiatic countries special priv- ileges have from time to time been obtained for missionaries. In the bigoted Empire of Turkey, for instance, the zeal of the French Government for the Catholic missionaries has forced the Ottomans to grant them one concession after another, and under the "favored nation" principle the Protestant mis- sions have shared in these favors. In 1858 the United States and other Christian powers secured from China an express stipulation that the mission- aries might teach their doctrines without being har- assed or persecuted, and Chinese converts should in no case be interferred with or molested on that ac- count. In the same year our Minister to Japan nego- tiated a treaty which granted freedom of religious worship, and some years later the representatives of the Christian powers intervened to bring about the ab- olition of the old anti-Christian edict. The last treaty negotiated by the United States with China is so recent (1903), and contains such a remarkable article that I think it worth while to quote it in full, as follows:
8 THERELATIOXOFDIPLOMACY
"Article XIV. The principles of the Christian re- ligion, as professed by the Protestant and Roman Catholic churches, are recognized as teaching men to do good and to do to others as they would have others do to them. Those who quietly profess and teach these doctrines shall not be harassed or persecuted on account of their faith. Any person, whether citizen of the United States or Chinese convert, who, accord- ing to these tenets, peaceably teaches and practices the principles of Christianity, shall in no case be in- terferred with or molested therefor. No restrictions shall be placed on Chinese joining Christian churches. Converts and non-converts, being Chinese subjects, shall alike conform to the laws of China; and shall pay due respect to those in authority, living together in peace and amity ; and the fact of being converts shall not protect them from the consequences of any offense they may have committted before or may com- mit after their admission into the church, or exempt them from paying legal taxes levied on Chinese sub- jects generally, except taxes levied and contributions for the support of religious customs and practices con- trary to their faith. Missionaries shall not interfere with the exercise by the native authorities of their ju- risdiction over Chinese subjects; nor shall the native authorities make any distinction between converts and non-converts, but shall administer the laws without partiality so that both classes can live in peace.
"Missionary societies of the United States shall be
TO FOREIGN MISSIONS 9
permitted to rent and to lease in perpetuity, as the property for such societies, buildings or lands in all parts of the Empire for missionary purposes, and, after the title deeds have been found in order and duly stamped by the local authorities, to erect such suitable buildings as may be required for carrying on their good work."
The foregoing is sufficient to show that the diplo- matic and consular representatives of the United States and the American missionaries must necessa- rily have important and close relations with each other. This would be so if the practice of exterritor- iality were the only bond for bringing them together. But the precision with which our treaties have been drawn with the Asiatic governments, the interest which our Government at all times has shown in the work of the missionaries, and the care it has taken in securing the free exercise of their labors and in mark- ing out their duties and those of their converts to the local authorities, constitute a certain oversight by our diplomatic representatives in those countries.
I am happy to say that, with a few unimportant ex- ceptions, the American representatives in the Orient and in the Far East have properly interpreted the spirit of their Government, and in their relations with the powers to which they have been accredited in the mission work they have shown that they were the representatives of a Christian nation. Indeed by the results accomplished, Commodore Perry was
lo THE RELATION OF DIPLOMACY
the most distinguished American diplomatist in the East. When he steamed into the Bay of Yeddo with his formidable squadron which filled the subjects of the Shogun with fear and amazement, he gave them their first lesson in Christian institutions. When Sunday came the free intercourse which had been maintained with the shore was entirely suspended and public service, as was the Commodore's invari- able custom, was held on the open decks of all his vessels. One of the most useful of all our ministers to Japan was Townsend Harris. During that unique negotiation with the then inexperienced and simple Japanese which resulted in the treaty of 1858, he re- cords in his diary: "I shall be both proud and happy if I can be the humble means of once more opening Japan to the blessed rule of Christianity." You are familiar with the good work done by the late Col. Denby, one of the most able and useful of our diplo- mats, and of Mr. Conger, recently returned from Pe- kin, ladened with honors, both of whom were the staunch friends and supporters of the missionaries. I might enumerate others if time permitted.
I am doubtless addressing some young men who as- pire to ser\'e their country in a diplomatic capacity. It is a laudable ambition and I hope you may attain your desire. I am glad to assure you that there opens up in the Far East a wide field of usefulness and hon- or for the Christian citizen of our Republic, who is so fortunate as to go to those lands as the official rep-
TO FOREIGN MISSIONS ii
resentative of his country. But I address a still larger number of young men who are resolved to enter the great mission field of Asia and to devote their lives to this most noble of all causes. It will be a satisfaction to them to know that many of their predecessors in their humble avocation have been able to render most valuable service to the world and especially to our own Government, in connection with the diplomatic inter- course of the Western nations with the Far East.
In the negotiations which resulted in the first treaty ever made by China with a Christian nation — that of Russia in 1689 — the Catholic missionaries were in- valuable participants both as interpreters and advis- ers. And all through the eighteenth century the Christian fathers were an indispensable part of all diplomatic missions which visited Pekin. When the British Government was making arrangements to send the famous Lord Macartney Embassy to Pekin in 1792 to open up political intercourse with the Emperor of China, search was made for a competent person to act as interpreter, and the Secretary of the Embassy re- cords that "in all the British dominions not one per- son could be procured properly qualified," and that after much inquiry two Christian Chinese students were found in the mission college at Naples, Italy, who were engaged for that service.
The well-known English missionary and interpreter, Dr. Morrison, who first translated the Bible into Chi- nese, was the chief interpreter of the second British
12 THERELATIONOFDIPLOMACY
Embassy in 1816, and he acted as the official inter- preter and trusted adviser of the British Government and of the East India Company at Canton for twenty- five years. During the Opium War of 1840 and in the peace negotiations, Dr. Gutslaff, the German mission- ary and historian, was in the employ of the British Gov- ernment, as interpreter and adviser, and was most use- ful in the negotiations. He was also of service to the United States in a similar capacity at a later date.
When the first American diplomatic envoy that was sent to the Far East by the American Government, Mr. Roberts, was appointed in 1832 to negotiate treaties with Siam and other Oriental countries, he had first to go to Canton, and there procured the ser- vices as interpreter of J. R. Morrison, the son of Dr. Morrison. A similar service was rendered for Mr. Balestier, the American representative, the negotia- tor of the treaty with Borneo in 1850, by Mr. Dean, an American missionary.
In 1844 Hon. Caleb Gushing was sent to China to establish our first diplomatic intercourse with that empire. He was escorted in great state by a squad- ron of the American Navy. But he was utterly pow- erless to accomplish the great object our Government had in view till he obtained at Canton the services of Dr. Peter Parker, a medical missionary, and Rev. Dr. Bridgeman, an accomplished Chinese scholar, both of the American Board of Missions. These two gen- tlemen were made secretaries of the embassy and
TOFOREIGNMIS SIGNS 13
through them the negotiations with the Chinese plen- ipotentiaries were wholly carried on to successful completion. Mr. Gushing returned to America to receive the plaudits of his countrymen for an achieve- ment due in large measure to the humble mission- aries. Dr. Parker became so useful to the Govern- ment that for several years he acted as charge of the legation and later became the Minister of the United States to Ghina.
One of the best known of Americans in Ghina was Dr. S. Wells Williams. He mastered that most diffi- cult language, and came to be recognized as the first scholar and linguist of all the foreign residents. When our Government determined to force an entrance into Japan, which had been hermetically closed against all foreigners for centuries, Gommodore Perry was dis- patched with a formidable fleet, and both America and Europe were laid under tribute to furnish men of learning and fitness to make the expedition a success. But before Gommodore Perry could venture on the first diplomatic step in his work, he had to repair with his fleet to Ganton to take on board Dr. Williams as his interpreter and adviser; and the narrative which the Gommodore has left of his expedition shows that in securing intercourse with the authorities and in the details of treaty negotiations. Dr. Williams was his main support, and to him, more than to any other person, was the Gommodore indebted for the com- plete success of his expedition, which has brought so
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14 THE RELATION OF DIPLOMACY
much fame to American diplomacy and which has given to the United States such prominence in the affairs of the Far East.
When the allied British and French fleets went to Tientsin in 1858 to exact treaties from China, the American Minister took with him Dr. Williams as his counselor and interpreter, and he played a very important part in those negotiations. The Minister reported to his Government: "I could not but for this aid have advanced a step in discharge of my du- ties." Years afterwards, when Dr. Williams was leaving China to return to America to spend the ev- ening of his life, the Secretary of State, Mr. Fish, wrote him: "Above all, the Christian world will not forget that to you more than to any other man is due the insertion in our treaty with China of the liberal provision for the toleration of the Christian religion." For many years after that event the Doctor continued as the trusted adviser of our Government in all Chi- nese questions. He left as a monument to his indus- try and learning the Chinese Dictionary, and he gave to the world in his "Middle Kingdom" the most com- plete work on China, which is to this day the stand- ard authority on that country.
Another person took a prominent part as the asso- ciate of Dr. Williams in the Tientsin expedition and negotiations of 1858— Dr. W. A. P. Martin, who went to that country as a missionary of the Presbyte- rian Church of the United States. He became pro-
TOFOREIGNMIS SIGNS 15
ficient in the Chinese language and literature, and was called into the service of the Imperial Govern- ment. For thirty years he held the post of the head of the Chinese educational system in the foreign course of study, and has acted as an adviser to its Foreign Office in international affairs. He has trans- lated into Chinese our own standard author on inter- national law, Wheaton, and other Western publicists. He has been of inestimable service to the Imperial Government, and has been characterized by Minister Denby as "the foremost American in China."
Such are some of the services which Christian mis- sionaries have rendered to the Western nations and to China in their political and diplomatic relations. It is not too much to say that up to the middle of the last century the governments of Europe and America were almost entirely dependent upon the missionaries for the direct conduct of their intercourse with Chi- nese ofificials.
My object in this brief review has been to show the relation which exists in the non-Christian coun- tries between the American diplomatic and consular representatives and the missionaries, how necessary and intimate must be this relation, and what it has accomplished in the past. Let us hope that these two classes of representatives of America in heathen lands may continue to work in harmony for the honor of their own country and for the enlightenment and bles- sing of the hundreds of millions of the people of Asia.
I
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