Avrouar, as we he pointed oat in the above article, it may be extra difficult to find a motive for the a1 action of the Chinese Government, by no means follows that the members of the Tsangli Yemen will not. have words wherewith to justify their policy. Chinese statesmen are never lacking in resources; they are, indeed, past masters in the art of evasion and double-entendre, As indicated in Reuter's telegram of the 4th inst,, their justification is sought in the second article of the Preliminary Treaty—that very article, in fact, which the French claim that they have so flagrantly and unpardonably violated. Now this article raus as follows. We give the French text, as it la regarded the supreme authority in matter of verbal dispute Lo Celeste Empire, rasure par les antis formelles de bon voisinage, q ni Vintégrité et In a6curité des frontitres me-ini oont donne par lo Franco, quant ridionales de la Chine, s'engage, (1°), retirer immediatement sur ses frontidres Jos garrisons Chinois clu Tonkin, Now this, surely, seems plain enough, The withdrawal of Chinese.troops was to be the first step, and was agreed to by China in considera. tion of the guarantees of good faith n to hor by France. "If the word immediately" be construed by the Chinese as meaning "immediately afte: the Defivitive Treaty is concluded," the answer is obvious, By the secret and hitherto unpublished contract entered into between the two parties, of which we informed our readers as long ago as the 29ud May and 6th alt.,'the sotual date of withdrawal.was-epecified; it was the 6th June, and to this was added nine days' grace by the favour of General Millet. It was, in fact, on the basis of thie stipulation that all the other provisions of the Treaty rested, and any infringement of it would necessarily cut the very ground from under any attempt to ratify the instrament a9 a whole. It is plain that to attempt the ratification of a document whose most important article has been already violated would involve". 8 contradiction in terms, and the nese have landed themselves in a complete diplomatic dilemma by not seeing the force of this self-evident proposition. Judging, then, from the telegram which Reuter sent: us on the 4th inst, we gather' that the Chinese regarded, or professed to regard, the Preliminary Treaty of 11th May simply and solely
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.