海草在盩演察與情勤求民證件上不
睦耳於此蔬見 制軍之虛懷褊物厚德特斯知佃著其融打幾若自忘共草貫我會之餘鈦
佩珠深竊雞 制軍之爲政也一秉公平無區畛域深仁厚澤莫可名言兹姑舉近事一二端言之以誌 盛德本港華民約十餘萬衆國課所入出諸華
【者逾半而議例局員向未聞華人得預其列今 制軍以愛民之心行執中之道特立
伍
局員爲開港以來未有之創舉遐邇聞之無不感
哉然我等尙望 制軍推廣此心以措之於政事施之於閭閻則上下之交自通官民之情日泱將見一轉移間風俗人心咸臻上理矣 悅我等此來謹以鳴謝乂前數年本港曾遭風災溺死海面者甚衆至今向有桔骸百餘具暴露於仰船洲附近海濱我等禀請僱人檢拾以期歸土爲安 財軍間之慨然自娟廉俸爲葬費掩骼埋古之仁政澤及枯骨生者可知是則 制軍鈞衡所及無分於中外德澤所加罔間乎死生疇不仰其至公
the rules of etiquette, spoke to us with kindly feeling, and received us with ready alacrity.
We respectfully opine that the object His Excel-
lency's mind dwelt upon was to ascertain by such condescension the feelings of the people
and to probe resolutely the secret desires of his
subjects, in order that he might be able to im-
prove the mutual relations of fellowship and concord between the ruling and the ruled classes.
"This explains even more fully the disinte
rested desire of His Excellency to be open to all
representations, whilst embodying the principles
of generous goodness, and one cannot fail to observe that lie was but developing and revealing
his innate condescension and gentleness which
prompted him almost to keep out of mind his inborn dignity and nobility. Whilst beholding
this sight, we were very deeply impressed with
it. It seems to us that His Excellency's admi-
nistration of the Government prizes above all things justice and fairness, to the exclusion of
be
all distinctions of nationality, and that the depth of his benevolence and the extent of his bounty is greater than words can express. We may permitted, however, on this occasion to bring forward one or two points with reference to late events and thereby commemorate His Excel- lency's abundant goodness.
"The Chinese population of the Colony now
numbers more than one hundred thousand peo- ple, and far more than one half of the revenue of the Government comes from Chinese residents. Hitherto we never yet heard of such a thing as
giving the Chinese residents some representative
among the members of the Legislative Council.
But now His Excellency the Governor, prompted by his love for the people, pursued a course of strict fair-play, and specially appointed Mr. NG CHOY to a seat on the Legislative Council, a step which had never before been taken since the first opening of this Colony, and the news of which fills everybody near and far with gratitude and joy. The object of our present deputation is to express our respectful thanks for this appoint-
ment.
(6
Again, some years ago, a terrible typhoon swept over this Colony, when multitudes of people were drowned in the sea, so that, up to
the present day, more than a hundred skeletons are being washed on shore and laid bare on the
beach at Stonecutters' Island and in the vicinity.
When we accordingly petitioned for permission to engage labourers to collect these human re- mains and in time to give them a peaceful inter- ment, His Excellency the Governor, as soon as he heard of it, spontaneously undertook to defray from his own private purse the expenses of burial. To inter such skeletons, to bury such human remains, was of old an object of benevolent Gov- ernments, and even now such kindness, extended to bleached bones, is self-apparent to the living. "The foregoing two points illustrate the man-
ner in which His Excellency holds the scales of Government without distinction of Chinese or Foreigners, and the manner in which the in- fluence of his goodness is extended in oblivion of