$19 interest, to make this and the above mentioned facts known in order to contradict the charges brought by Mr. Hayllar and the rumours in circulation regarding the whole matter.
32. At four days before the Governor's departure for Peking, his Excellency told me on two distinct occasions that Mr. Low and Major Palmer had spoken to him about the precise description of the book brought by Mr. Hayllar to the House. I was told by the Governor that Mr. Hayllar had explained to Mr. Low that he brought a Catalogue of the Naples Museum to the House to show it to the Governor himself, but that it was not the Catalogue of the Secret Museum. After letting me know this, the Governor went on to say that he could really not say whether it was this book or that, but simply a book which he opened on finding it and which he found to contain one picture (among others) of a decidedly indecent nature. The Governor further described to me the picture in a manner which clearly impressed upon me the idea that the picture in question was not a work of art but a bawdy picture. The day before the Governor left for Peking, he referred to this point again and told me that Major Palmer had expressed to him a doubt, raised by Mr. Ryle in conversation with Major Palmer, as to the book in question being...
Page 120
Page 121