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CANTON OLD (1)
See Sir, J. F. Davis.
It may not be generally known that there is a very old painting in Government House, Hongkong, of considerable historical interest, and probably of great value.
I am obliged to Sir Henry Pollock for the following contribution on the subject:-
"The Picture of King George IV at Government House- Some historical interest attaches to the above picture, by Lawrence which formerly hung in the dining-room of the East India Company in their factory at Canton. The following extract of page 17 of Eitel's History of Hongkong refers to this picture.
* In 1831 a curious episode occurred illustrating the strained international relations which had gradually arisen. In the spring of 1831 the Select Committee of the East India Company took upon itself to enlarge the garden in front of their factory by reclaiming a narrow strip of foreshore. Soon after, when the merchants had all retired to Macao, for the summer the Governor of Canton, resenting the unauthorized reclamation came in person to the British factory and ordered the premises to be forthwith restored to their previous condition. Meanwhile he walked into the Select Committee's dining-room where a life-size picture, representing George IV, as Prince Regent, was hanging. On being informed that it was the portrait of the then reigning King of England, the Governor took a chair and deliberately sat down with his back turned to the picture.
"The Select Committee reported this deliberate insult to their Directors and the merchants used various means of making their indignation known to the Chinese Officials. One of their defenders, publicly alleged (September 15, 1831) that the Governor disavowed any intentional disrespect and blamed the Committee for desecrating the picture, by exhibiting it without a curtain of Imperial yellow and for omitting to place in front of it an altar with frankincense.
Lord William Bentinck then Governor General of India addressed (August 27, 1831,) a letter to the Governor demanding an explanation but took no further steps when the Governor whilst refusing to notice Lord Bentinck's letter, issued January 7, 1832) an edict denying the imputation."
There is obviously a slight error in detail in the above account of Eitel, as, in 1831, George IV was not the "then reigning King of England" but the late King of England, having died in 1830."
This correction of Eitel's book up to now the only connected "history" of early Hongkong is valuable.
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