trading nation. Sir Robert Hart,1 the second Inspector-General, gradually developed a system which has been of untold service to China as well as to the nations depending upon the customs for the interest upon their loans. Hart held the inspectorship from 1863 almost to the day of his death in 1911.

In other ways foreign influence was by no means regarded with a friendly eye. A period was inaugurated which may be described as that of trimming down the borderlands of China. From very early times, China as suzerain had demanded and received homage and tribute from most of the neighboring nations. In many cases the suzerainty was fictitious, but so long as nothing occurred to make the suzerain Power "lose face," nobody bothered. Now, however, the Powers of Europe, like a pack of hungry wolves, were beginning to close in upon the Chinese borders.

First, we have the trouble with France, which had indeed obtained some territory from China as far back as 1787. But in 1858 further advance was made by the taking of Saigon and the extension of French influence through Cochin-China and Cambodia. After the Franco-German War France sought restoration of prestige in her colonial empire, and a treaty was made with Annam in 1874, without consultation with the suzerain power, resulting in the opening for trade of the Red River and its ports, Haiphong and Hanoi. The use of this territory for trade purposes soon brought the French into conflict with the guerilla troops known as Black Flags, who after the Taiping Rebellion infested the district. It was to punish these marauders that, without war being declared, the French carried on warlike operations during 1883 and 1884. These were carried on with considerable valor and skill on the part of the Chinese, but ended at last in a treaty negotiated by the good offices of Sir Robert Hart and signed June 9, 1885. Prior to the signature an unfortunate incident occurred at Liangsan, through the precipitancy of the French general, which brought about a French defeat and on the other side of the world the 1 See Julia Bredon, Life of Sir Robert Hart.

downfall of the Ferry ministry. M. Ferry bore with him henceforth the soubriquet of the Man of Tonking, but the gains from the treaty were not inconsiderable, entailing the annexation of Tonking and the establishment of a protectorate over Annam. More trimming of Chinese vassal territory on the southwest came about through British operations in Burmah. The province of Pegu had been annexed by Great Britain in 1852, and ten years later the province of British Burmah was formed, with the expectation of extending trade into Western China. The unfortunate Margary affair in 1875, by which Augustus Margary,1 a member of the British consular service, was murdered on the western frontier by Chinese troops, brought about the Chifu Convention. This opened certain river ports and gave permanent representation to China at the British court, but no gain in the way of territory. In 1878 came the accession of the notorious Thibaw to the Burmese throne, and his cruelties at length brought a British ultimatum and intervention in 1885. Thibaw was captured and deported, and on January 1, 1886, Burmah was annexed, to be incorporated eventually in British India.

Meanwhile, Japan was having trouble in connection with her neighbor Korea. It will have been obvious that from very early times the peninsula of Korea, or Chosen, had swung irregularly from allegiance on the one hand to China and on the other to Japan, rarely approaching anything like the equilibrium of independence. At the beginning of the Restoration era in Japan (1868) the Koreans sent no presents, declaring that they could not recognize a nation which had turned its back upon the ideals of the East.

It may be well to explain the relation of Korea to the outside world by a brief summary of her treatment of Christian missions. Christianity had been first made known in Korea when in the sixteenth century Hideyoshi's general, Konishi, brought with him as his chaplain Father Cespedes. It was not till 1784 that the first Korean convert, residing in Peking, was baptized, 1 See The Journal of Augustus Raymond Margary, 1876.

and he, after converting several others upon his return home, apostatized under persecution. He was put to death, with six others. As Longford puts it: "He marched to death with martyrs, but was not a martyr; was beheaded as a Christian, but died a renegade.' Somehow Christianity continued to spread, and at the beginning of the nineteenth century it is estimated that there were 10,000 Christians in Korea. The desire to have a Vicar-Apostolic led to the sending of Brugière from China, but he died within sight of his goal in 1835. His successor from Tatary crossed the frontier through a drainpipe. In 1837 came the first Bishop, the heroic Imbert. These and others for the most part died as martyrs, after torments unspeakable, but the Koreans ceased to despise Christians. The great persecution of 1866 had as its cry, "Hatred to Europeans," and as swords were insufficient to slay the Christians, a guillotine was invented which took off twenty-four heads at once. Eight thousand Christians were executed and many more died in the mountains from cold and starvation.1

At this juncture the inability of France to avenge her subjects brought about the intervention of Japan, though other things were more directly responsible. Among these was the murder of fifty sailors from the Ryukyu Islands. China, as the suzerain Power, protested against the landing of a punitive force, but ultimately consented to pay the expenses of the expedition, thus tacitly allowing the claim of Japan to the Ryukyu group. Later on other circumstances brought about tension, notably the intrigues of pro-Chinese and pro-Japanese parties in the Korean court itself. Ultimately, following upon several tragic episodes, a modus vivendi was found by the Chinese statesman Li Hung-chang,2 in consultation with the Japanese representative, Count Ito, by which it was arranged that if either nation found it necessary to send troops into Korea, due notice of the intention must be given. This ar

1 See Longford, The Story of Korea.

2 See Bland, Li Hung-chang.