102
misunderstood the action which I took in the matter. Reference to the Acting Colonial Secretary's letter, which formed Enclosure No 3 in my Despatch above quoted, will show that I entered a strong protest against what had taken place. I disclaimed fixing the responsibility, directly or indirectly, upon any one in Shanghai, but as I held it to be a portion of the duties of the Majesty's Consular Officers in China elsewhere to protect British interests, so far as they are able, as well in Wongting Ports at which they are stationed as in the Ports, I thought it right to cause the Acting Consul in Shanghai to be communicated with without delay. On the same day, as Your Lordship will observe by the Enclosures in my former Despatch, I sent a copy of the Acting Colonial Secretary's letter to the Majesty's Minister.
4.
The correspondence in 1865, to which Mr Wade refers, relates to censuring Consular Officers, which the Governor of this Colony has no right, or I should fancy inclination to do. There is, therefore, no analogy between what passed in 1865 and what ...