him, Chun and he were very good friends and he had no doubt he would be able to concert some scheme which would be satisfactory to all parties. That I must be aware that the Head of a Department who had any talents does not like to be interfered with too much : he likes to be left liberty of action in the sphere for which he is responsible and it does not do for his superiors to give him loose instructions, since it was thought important that I should see Chun, that Chun might feel that I was acting with spontaneity. However some means must be devised for removing many of the vessels which form a Cordon round Hongkong, And he trusted that things would ultimately be made to work smoothly.
In the meantime he would again impress upon the Haitwan the necessity of relaxing his vigilance for the remainder of his term of office. I thanked the Viceroy for the frank way in which he met me on this question; that I should have preferred
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