that the Colony was Established not for purposes of Colonization, or for the advantage of future Colonials, but solely because it was considered convenient to the mother Country on political and Military grounds, as well as a useful adjunct to the China trade: and the value of the Colony as a political and Military position has been abundantly proved by the result.
I believe the possession of Hongkong with its naval and Military Establishment, small although they were, formed a basis for assembling and organizing the last Expedition alone, and saved the Government a sum more than named by you as the cost to the mother Country of nursing the Colony through its first period of infancy. This will be readily understood by any who watched over the Colony.
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