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incident. Hence, Soyejima decided to visit the Court of Peking himself in the capacity of an Ambassador. The apparent object of the mission was the exchange of ratification of the treaty of the 29th of July, 1871.

The Ambassador arrived in Shanghai on the 31st of March, escorted by two men-of-war, and then set out for Tientsin, where an interview took place between him and Li-Hung-Chang on the 24th of April. The Viceroy heartily thanked Soyejima for the liberation of the 232 Chinese coolies the year before. The exchange of ratification took place on the 5th of May, and though Li wished to enter the negotiation of the Formosan affair at once, Soyejima insisted on being received in audience by the Emperor first, and arrived in Peking on the 7th of May.

This was just the time when the question of audience was actively discussed in Peking between the Tsung-li-Yamen and the diplomatic circle of Peking. The Chinese ceremony of audience granted to foreign representatives dated from the flourishing days of Kanghi, founder of the present dynasty. A Russian representative then sent to the Court of Peking agreed to the proposal of following the Chinese Court ceremony on the condition of a Chinese representative in St. Petersburg following the rules of etiquette in the Russian Court. He did not take the trouble to inform himself beforehand in what the Chinese ceremony consisted, so that he was greatly taken aback when he was required to kneel down in the courtyard outside the grand hall, in the depth of which was seated the son of heaven, and to bow very respectfully first three and then nine times. What was promised must have been carried out, and since then this became the established rule of ceremony of audience in the Chinese Court. That a foreign Minister of the nineteenth century would not submit to this humiliation was evident, and so none of them had ever since applied for audience, but only presented a copy of their credentials to the Tsung-li-Yamen, until in the winter of 1872 the question was revived by some of them demanding audience on the coming New Year’s Day.

But there was another irregularity among the foreign representatives themselves in Peking, which had to be first rectified if things were to go on according to the diplomatic usages of modern Europe. Up to this time the rule of precedence established between Ambassador, Minister Plenipotentiary, Minister Resident, and Chargé d’Affaires was not followed, but all were seated promiscuously, simply in order of their arrival in China. Soyejima thought it proper to correct this irregularity first, and entered into correspondence with his colleagues, who readily agreed with him. He then opened negotiations with the Yamen Minister concerning the audience,