Dears Kingsmill,
I have received your letter and must say that while you are at home, you are certainly of no use to us here. You have stated that you have a wife and family dependent on you. Remaining in the Colony is more likely to add to your difficulties than to alleviate them. I have no hesitation in stating that every day you remain here will not only expose you to the perils of a Hong Kong Summer but also to the anxieties of separation.
At any rate, being here will be to them, in a pecuniary or any other view, at home, with you yourself being a burden. I believe you should not remain here any longer. I advise you to send in your resignation, giving your reasons in full, and I have no hesitation in expressing my feeling that procrastination in taking this step will not be beneficial.
I am convinced that you have not been fairly dealt with, and I know that I can become a passage home. Mr. Anstey seems far from a pleasant prospect, and your position here can be attended with no good. I suggest you come and see me whenever you may deem it necessary.
Yours sincerely,
J. J. Gibson
Acting Attorney General at Hong Kong,
My dear Sir,
Believe me,
Hong Kong, February 12, 1857.
W. J. Bridges
With very great regret, I have observed that your salary was barely sufficient to support you decently. The information as to the duties of your appointment or the circumstances of this Colony was not available to you in time. Indeed, it appears to me that from the very outset, you have labored under difficulties since your arrival in this Colony.
As a professional man with two years of experience in this Colony, I feel competent to form an opinion on this matter. The expenses of living in Hong Kong far exceed any idea that I had prior to leaving home, although I was warned that it was not a cheap place. The fact is, the place is dearer even than Calcutta, and as compared to England, I can say that an outlay of £120 per annum in London gave me more comfort, substance, and enjoyment than £350 could here.
To meet these expenses, there was a hope held out of private practice, but this was, in your case, quite out of the question due to the multiplicity of duties thrown upon you, which did not allow you time to turn your attention to private practice. Indeed, having to perform all the duties in your own person, you found it absolutely impossible to proceed without assistance, the cost of which you had to defray out of your very limited income, thereby reducing it to a scale at which it was impossible to continue in the post without getting deeper into debt.
I am perfectly satisfied that the only course open to you was to resign at once and put up with personal discomforts. I put these aside and form my deliberate opinion on the propriety of the step you have taken on the broad grounds above stated.
I remain, my dear Sir, yours faithfully,
Henry Kingsmill,
James Hickson Esq.
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