Contribution on the Banks; and, that there had been some Question about GUN Seizing. that part of China of which forms the north side of the Lyemoon Channel, east of Coroloom, as to Our necessary self preservation. with long notice, no doubt, we could make the Channel in Question a pass of peril to an ordinary man-of-war, but if the commander of an iron-clad did not feel that his ship could carry the batteries to be erected after we had seized the territory of a friendly power, there would be nothing to prevent him entering the harbour from the Westward, and putting in execution the very practicable scheme sketched out above.
The evil to us would not be merely that our banks might sustain damage. We could not receive a blow of this kind at Hongkong without the most serious damage to our position moral and material in China. And unless we keep a large naval force constantly at Hongkong, we have no means of meeting a surprise of the kind. Annexation of the Chinese shore, which would commit China to war either with us or with Russia, would, I trust, be the last measure Her Majesty's Government would adopt.
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