8 VINDICATION
ك
"tr
с
OF THE
CHARACTER OF THE UNDERSIGNED
FROM THE ASPERSIONS OF
MR. T. CHISHOLM ANSTEY ,
EX-ATTORNEY GENERAL OF HONGKONG.
AS CONTAINED
IN HIS CHARGES, HIS PAMPHLET, AND HIS LETTER TO THE SECRE
TARY OF STATE FOR THE COLONIES.
BY
DANIEL RICHARD CALDWELL, 1
REGISTRAR GENERAL AND PROTECTOR OF CHINESE,
HONGKONG,
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NORONHAS OFFICE, OSWALD'S TERRACE, WELLINGTON STREET .
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1
MR . CHISHOLM ANSTEY, the late Attorney General of Hongkong ,
has thought fit, as well in his published correspondence with the Secre
tary of State for the Colonies, as by means of a pamphlet published by
him in England, entitled " Crime and Government at Hongkong," to
cast upon my name and reputation aspersions of the gravest and most
iniquitous character. His object in doing so was to procure my dismissal
from Her Majesty's Colonial Service, with which I have had the honour
of being connected for a period of fifteen years, and to degrade me from
the position I have hitherto held as a respectable member of society.
The peculiar position I was placed in, as an officer of the Government,
which had directed an official inquiry to be instituted into the truth of
the charges brought against me by Mr. Anstey, and Mr. Anstey's subse
quent reiteration of the same charges in his letter to the Secretary of
State for the Colonies- whose decision thereon has not as yet been made
public-have hitherto prevented my adopting any measures for vindicat
ing myself in the estimation of the public from these false and calumnious
accusations.
I cannot however in justice to myself any longer refrain from using
the same public means for refuting these calumnies as Mr. Anstey him
self has thought fit to adopt in propagating them.
I had indeed almost hoped that the unrelenting manner in which Mr.
Anstey, after the termination of the official inquiry at Hongkong (by
which his wicked purposes were at once frustrated) has continued his
persecution of me-t-the bitter hatred and vindictiveness which breathe
in every line he has written against me--and the animus and malignity
displayed in all the foul calumnies he has published concerning me,
would have carried their own refutation to the minds of every sensible
and impartial person who may have had the patience to read them; but
lest there be any, who, from ignorance of the character and antecedents
of Mr. Anstey, may still be disposed to place faith in his statements, I
deem it right, in plain and intelligible language, to prove to them in the
following pages, that the accusations of this calumniator are false and
malicious, got up with the aid and connivance of Mr. Charles May of
this colony, and intended to gratify feelings of private animosity, which
both these persons have long entertained against me.
4
As Protector of Chinese, my opinion upon several of the measures pro
posed by Mr. Anstey was often desired by the government, and on more
than one occasion I have felt it my duty to express my strong and un
qualified disapproval of them.
To thwart or oppose Mr. Anstey, however conscientiously, in the exe
cution of any plans be may have conceived and made up his mind to
carry out, was an offence he never forgave.
It has been said by some writer, that every man is more or less in
sane—that every person is affected with some particular kind of mono
mania. Whatever doubts there may be as to the truth of this hypothesis ,
no one, I think, who has heard of Mr. Anstey's career in England, after
wards in Australia, and latterly in Hongkong, can doubt the fact, that
the particular species of monomania which seems to possess Mr. Anstey,
is the quixotic notion he entertains, that it is his especial mission, in
whatever part of the world he may happen to be, to detect abuses and
corruptions existing in the public departments of the State and to bring
h to punishment the authors thereof.
Correct and commendable as such a course would be when directed by
* conscientious principles and tempered by discrimination and judgment,
it is in the highest degree reprehensible, to give in no harsher name,
when it is made the pretext and instrument for the gratification of pri
vate malice, personal vindictiveness or individual oppression.
Can any one who has taken the trouble to read Mr. Anstey's corres
pondence and his pamphlet, entertain a doubt as to the motives by which
he was actuated when he made those sweeping denunciations and reck
less accusations against myself as well as against Sir John Bowring,
Dr. Bridges and Colonel Caine ?-Does not the most bitter spirit of ani
mosity and malevolence shew itself in every sentence of them ?
In Mr. Anstey's persecution of myself he found a fit and willing ins
trument in Mr. May, the Superintendent of Police of Hongkong—a man
with whom I had been for years on the most intimate and confidential
terms of friendship.— Misunderstandings arose between us—we fell out,
and, as is but too frequently the case when friends quarrel, he became
my most bitter enemy .
I was at one time Assistant Superintendent of Police under Mr. May,
and my subsequent promotion over him, with a salary higher than the
one he was himself in the receipt of, and to an office which he had him
self long coveted and to which he had entertained great hopes of succeed
ing, not only excited his jealousy and envy, but increased still more his
feelings of animosity against me.
I have felt it necessary to enter into this brief explanation, without
which, those at a distance would be unable to understand the motives which
could induce two men, each holding a responsible official position in the
Colony, to go the lengths they did in bringing charges the most atroci
ous and the most diabolical one public officer ever brought against an
other ; many of which, the Commissioners appointed to investigate
them , declared to be "unnecessary-as it certainly was most distasteful
" to them to inquire into," and of the whole of which I was acquitted,
although I may have great and just cause to be dissatisfied with the
manner in which some of their findings are worded .
I shall now endeavour to reply to the principal accusations against
me as they appear in Mr. Anstey's letter to the Secretary of State for
the Colonies and in his pamphlet above referred to, and I trust I shall
not have much difficulty in proving their entire falsity. F
With that dogged tenacity of purpose which characterises Mr. Anstey's
proceedings in every matter in which his personal feelings are interested,
he has most industriously sought out almost every act of my life, private
as well as public, (not excluding even my wife and family in his greedy
thirst for slander) whereon to found some charge against me. With a
wilful perversion of facts in some instances , deliberate fabrications in
others, and the unscrupulous use of the suppressio veri as well as the
suggestio falsi in nearly all of them, he has drawn up an Indictment
against me, the like of which, I verily believe, was never before present
ed to an impartial public to seek a verdict upon.
In speaking of my origin and early career in the Straits and China,
Mr. Anstey draws the following false and overcharged picture :
Mr. Caldwell himself is a native of St. Helena and apparently of mixed blood.
His father, a common soldier in a local Militia corps, brought him when young to
Pulo Penang where and at Singapore his youth was passed in various inferior occupa
tions ashore and afloat. His character was to say the least of it not high at that time ;
and when Sir George Bonham then administering his Straits Government was pro
moted to that of Hongkong it was with difficulty, it is said, that His Excellency was
induced to tolerate, even in a comparatively inferior post in the Police of Hongkong,
the man who had left behind him at Singapore a very damaging notoriety ; and who
had taken shelter in Canton or Hongkong only to acquire a worse. "
That I was born at St. Helena is true ; but that I have any more "mix
ed blood " in me than possibly runs in the veins of Mr. Chisholm Ans
tey himself is a matter I have yet to learn. My Father was a merchant
settled at that place, and, in common with every gentleman then living
on the Island, was a member of the " St. Helena Volunteers," a corps
formed during the war, and which, I believe, remained in existence dur
ing the whole period of Bonaparte's captivity on the Island. He was
therefore no more " a common soldier of a local Militia corps " than are
any of the barristers of the Temple who have lately enrolled themselves
6
into a Volunteer Rifle Corps in England, of which Mr. Anstey himself
may possibly be a member.
During my short stay at Singapore I was employed as clerk in a mer
cantile house . I left that place to better my prospects in China, and
had done nothing to earn a character of " damaging notoriety " as Mr.
Anstey falsely asserts. I left Singapore in 1834, being then barely seven
teen years of age, with a letter of introduction from Mr. Alexander
Lawrie Johnston, the senior member of the long established house of A.
L. Johnston & Co. of that place, to Messrs. Jardine, Matheson & Co. of
China. Mr. Johnston was not only the oldest, but was the leading
merchant of Singapore. His introduction and recommendation of me
at this time to the house of Messrs. Jardine, Matheson & Co. is the best
answer I can give to the insinuations of Mr. Anstey.
I arrived in China during the Napier troubles in 1834, and remained
for a few weeks at Lintin on board of Messrs. Jardine, Matheson & Co.'s
receiving-ship the Hercules. While there, Mr. William Jardine intro
duced me to Mr. Keating, a merchant established at Canton, in whose
employ I entered and remained until his death at Macao in 1837. I
then became Book-keeper to Mr. Innes also a merchant established at
Canton, whom I left in 1838 in consequence of the violent language he
used towards me for having sold some pieces of Handkerchiefs to a Chi
nese merchant who afterwards absconded without paying for them.
Another of Mr. Anstey's charges against me is that during this time
I was a smuggler of opium in the Canton River ; which, in his usual
exaggerated language, he describes as something equivalent to the
smugglers of the channel in former times. Every one who knows any
thing of our mercantile connection with China at that time, aware
that the importation and open sale of opium in Canton was prohibited
by the Chinese government. Merchants in Canton who dealt in opium
were compelled , in order to effect a sale of the drug, to adopt the best
means they could to avoid its seizure by the Mandarins. Mr. Innes did
no more than every other merchant who traded in that article ; and if
to do this, as Mr. Anstey ridiculously asserts, they employed " none but
" the most daring and atrocious of Chinese outlaws -for none others were
" qualified to enter the service of the Europeans on board the fast boats
" so employed- they were in fact nearly all, without exception river
" pirates of the most desperate character ;"-the imputation must ap
ply to every mercantile house then established in Canton.
Mr. Anstey's next aspersion is that " there was a graver report, accord
"ing to another witness, concerning him, which threw him under a
"cloud entirely with the community in China : that he had not account- .
·
•
7
.
"ed for the proceeds of some opium which had been entrusted to him
"for sale. This was in 1840."
There is not the slightest foundation of any description for this scandal
ous charge. I was not in Canton at all during the year 1840 ; and in
fact the sale of opium never formed part of my duties. Mr. J. B. Comp
ton, of the house of Messrs . Jardine, Matheson & Co. , one of the oldest
and most respected residents in Canton, who had known me since my
first arrival in China, though not on terms of intimacy with me, gave
the following evidence before the Commission of Inquiry :
I have resided in Canton since January 1834. I knew Mr. Caldwell when he first
came to Canton about July or August, 1834. I was not then in the house of Jardine,
Matheson & Co. I was informed at the time of his arrival that Mr. Caldwell came
from Singapore and that he had been in some mercantile establishment there . I
knew nothing particular of Mr. Caldwell beyond meeting him occasionally in the
neighbourhood of Canton. He was in the employ of Mr. Keating and subsequently
in that of Mr. Innes. I was under the impression that he had a letter either to Mr.
Jardine or to Mr. Matheson and that it was one or other of those gentlemen who got
him the situation with Mr. Keating and with Mr. Innes. During the period of which
I speak, no circumstance whatever came to my knowledge reflecting in the slightest
degree upon Mr. Caldwell's character for honesty."
The space within which the European residents at Canton at that
time lived was so extremely circumscribed, (not exceeding a few hundred
feet square) and the members of the community were necessarily so
much thrown together, that every little occurrence which took place in
that small society (not exceeding a hundred in number) was sure to be
known to every member of it almost as soon as it happened. Had I
been guilty ofthe dereliction of duty imputed to me by Mr. Anstey, the
circumstance could not have failed to reach the ears of Mr. Compton .
As to what Mr. Anstey is pleased to assert of Sir George Bonham's
disinclination to " tolerate " my remaining " even in a comparatively in
ferior post in the Hongkong Police," I have only to remark that he has
no better authority for this than the unsupported statement of Mr. May.
The following despatch from Sir George Bonham to Earl Grey, refer
ring to some services I had rendered in the destruction of pirates, will
shew that His Excellency entertained no such feeling against me :
VICTORIA, HONGKONG , 3rd November, 1849.
MY LORD, I have the honorto enclose for your Lordship's information copies offour
despatches, with enclosures, which I have recently had occasion to address to Lord
Palmerston respecting some very successful attacks made against the pirates on the
Coast of China by Her Majesty's Sloop Columbine, Steamers Medea and Fury, and
the Hon'ble East India Company's Steamer Phlegethon, by which your Lordship
will perceive that no less than 99 piratical vessels have been destroyed, as well as a
very large number of pirates ; and that the few that remain are so completely dispers
8
ed, as to ensure their being unable to congregate again in any force for a considerable
time.
I take this opportunity of bringing particularly to your Lorship's notice the great
benefit that the Colony must derive from these energetic measures on the part of Her
Majesty's Navy ; and I trust that the activity and zeal displayed by Commander
John Dalrymple Hay ofthe Columbine, and Commander Robert Willcox of the Fury,
have been sufficiently conspicuous to authorize your Lordship's bringing their merits
to the favorable consideration of the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty.
I herewith enclose copy of a letter to my address from Commander Hay wherein
he speaks in the highest terms of Mr. Daniel Richard Caldwell, Interpreter in the
Chinese language and Assistant Superintendent of Police of this Colony. Com
mander Hay indeed states that without his services he does not think he could have
succeeded in the late important operations. I believe that as Mr. Caldwell does not
belong to Her Majesty's fleet, he will not be entitled to any ofthe benefits likely to
be derived by those engaged in the destruction of the piratical fleets now reported ;
but as there cannot be a doubt that it was through Mr. Caldwell's energy and local
knowledge that these marauders were discovered and destroyed, I therefore respect
fully and earnestly beg to recommend that this gentleman may be considered to have
the same claim as Lieutenants engaged in these services in the participation of any
head money that may be awarded to the Captors under Act 6. Geo. IV. c. 49 ; and if
this suggestion cannot with reference to the provisions of the act be adopted, I would
submit that I be permitted to present Mr. Caldwell with a donation equal in amount
to that which an officer of the above rank would be entitled to.
Your Lordship will observe that the duties performed by Mr. Caldwell have been
of a most important and responsible nature and totally unconnected with his ordinary
official avocations ; that he has undergone the same personal fatigue and danger as
the officers of the vessels engaged in these expeditions ; and I therefore trust he will
be considered to be entitled to that notice and compensation which I now respectfully
submit to the favorable consideration of your Lordship. -I have, &c. ,
S. G. BONHAM.
If Sir George Bonham could " scarcely tolerate " my remaining in
the service he would not have penned a despatch so highly eulogistic of
myself, nor would he have voluntarily taken the trouble to advocate, in
the above strong terms, my claims to the consideration of Her Majesty's
Government.*
I have to add to this a portion of Colonel Caine's evidence given
before the Commission with reference to the same subject : " I do not
" remember Sir George Bonham saying or shewing that he had any
" reluctance to let Mr. Caldwell remain in Government employ. Sir
(6
George never in my hearing expressed an unfavorable opinion of his
" character, and I am not aware of his having done so when I was not
* The Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty decided that I was not entitled under the
Act to participate in the distribution of head money awarded to the Navy for these operations ;
but their Lordships were pleased to mark their sense of my services by presenting me with
the sum of £650 on that occasion.
A testimonial of a handsome Breakfast Service of Silver and a purse of £100 was also pre
sented to me bythe Captain, Officers, and Crew of the Columbine on the same occasion.
9
"6 present." Colonel Caine's official connection with Sir George Bonham
as Colonial Secretary was so close and intimate, that had His Excellency
entertained such an opinion, he certainly would have expressed it at
some time or other during the seven years of his governorship, and to
no one more likely than the Secretary of his government.
Besides this there are private letters of Sir George Bonham still
extant, written during his tenure of office in Hongkong, in which he
bears willing testimony to the efficient manner in which I discharged
the duties of my offices and the satisfaction he felt thereat. Permission
has been requested of Sir George to allow me to make public use of the
contents of these letters, so far as they relate to myself, but his reply
has not yet been received.
Mr. Anstey has, in his pamphlet, given so garbled a statement of
Colonel Caine's evidence before the Commission, that in justice to myself
I feel bound to give it in full. The following is from the printed report
of the Commissioners :
"The Hon'ble Lieut. Colonel William Caine called and examined : I am Lieutnant
Governor ofthis Colony. I first came to China in 1840 and first knew Mr. Caldwell
in the same year. He was in the Commissariat department and came with me in the
same fleet from Singapore to Chusan . I think this must have been in June 1840.
I may say that I have almost known him uninterruptedly since that time. I have
certainly known him uninterruptedly since he joined the Colonial service in 1843. I
myself know nothing against his character for honesty and integrity during that period.
I first held the office of Chief Magistrate in this Colony. I was then Colonial Secretary
and Auditor General and afterwards Lieutnant Governor. I was appointed Chief
Magistrate in May 1841 in the infancy of the Colony and had the complete superin
tendence ofthe Police at that time. I was ever satisfied with Mr. Caldwell's conduct
and considered him one of the most efficient servants we had, always willing and
ready to do anything. No reports on which I can place reliance have ever come to
my knowledge against him."
Cross examined. " I cannot remember Mr. Caldwell bringing before me and Mr.
Johnston some pirates who had attacked the brig of which he had command, but I
would suggest that the Magistrates ' case-book be examined. The Police reports of
the Colony will also shew that Mr. Caldwell has been constantly rendering services to
the Navy and been thanked, and if I remember right, rewarded for these services."
“Re-examined.—I have never received any official complaints against Mr. Cald
well all the complaints I have heard have been merely idle rumour-that is what I
mean when I say that I have not received any complaints on which I could place
reliance. I do not remember any objection to Mr. Caldwell's taking office in the
first instance. Since that, the only circumstance which I have heard against him was
his pecuniary difficulties, which caused him to resign the service. I do not remember
his pecuniary difficulties being urged as grounds against his taking office. I do not
remember Sir George Bonham saying or shewing that he had any reluctance to let
Mr. Caldwell remain in Government employ. Sir George never in my hearing ex
I had gone to Singapore for the benefit of my health and took employment in the expe
ditionary force which called at that place on its way to China.
10
pressed an unfavorable opinion of his character, and I am not aware of his having
done so when I was not present. Mr. Caldwell was made at my recommendation
either clerk or Interpreter to the Chief Magistrate early in 1843 I think . That was
his first post in the Colonial Service. The island had very few residents when I took
him into the employ. I took him from my own knowledge seeing that he was a
smart person and possessed an excellent knowledge of the language. I did not at
that time know anything against him. I saw him at Chusan and here and sailed
with him over to Macao when he was in command of the Thistle. I do not hesitate
in saying that every thing I saw of him induced me to recommend him for Govern
ment employ, as he would be a useful servant. I would rather decline answering
the question as to what I have heard about Mr. Caldwell from my acquaintance with
this part ofthe world to the present time. I have only heard rumours which made no
impression on me. I certainly should not have recommended him to the Government
service if I had heard anything against him, and if I had not thought him peculiarly
fitted for the Government Service. I am not aware of the fact of a connection
between Ma-chow Wong and the Police. I have heard of it and seen in news
papers. Neither am I aware, except in the same way, of a connection between Ma
chow Wong and Mr. Caldwell. Besides seeing this in the newspapers I have heard
it stated in the Council Room here on one occasion—perhaps more than one occasion. "
99.66 com
The questions put to Colonel Caine respecting " rumours
plaints " and " reports " about me were suggested by Mr. Anstey him
self, who, finding that he could make out nothing against me in the 30
shape offact from so respectable a witness, thought to do so by means
Fer
of rumours and reports. Colonel Caine knew too well what value to
Perler
attach to Hongkong rumours and reports to allow them to make any
impression on him. Of all places in the world, perhaps there is not one
JAV
where scandal and detraction are more rife—so readily invented- so
industriously circulated and, I regret to add—so eagerly sought after, as Ther
at Hongkong . Few persons who come to the place, especially if they
e
happen to be public servants, escape the vile detractions of the privat ed
traducer or the public slanderer of Hongkong. If character in Hong
kong depended upon rumour alone, that of Mr. Anstey would not be
worth a groat.
But in order still further to disparage me Mr. Anstey says in his
pamphlet that I was " raised from the lower grades of the Police, " that Sup
A I was " successively Inspector of Police, Assistant Superintendent of tim
e
" Police," &c ., the Office of Inspector of Police in Hongkong being
generally filled by discharged seamen or persons of that class . To prove Ifeel
that Mr. Anstey's statement is false it is only necessary to refer to the
may1
Records of the Police. My first connection with the Police was in the
capacity of Interpreter to the Magistrate's Court, which Office I held
This
conjointly with that of Interpreter to the Supreme Court. I have already
quoted Colonel Caine's evidence in proof of this, who stated that I joined ofth
Mr.
the service in 1843 as Interpreter, and I have now to add that of Sir
11
Henry Pottinger to the same effect. In his report on the public officers
00 ofthe Colony in 1843 , Sir Henry Pottinger says, " Mr. Caldwell is
NO "
Interpreter to the Chief Magistrate's Court. Is a first rate Interpreter
DOK ((
in the colloquial dialect of this part of China, but knows little, com
188 (6
t at paratively speaking, of the written language. * Is also a very good
iled " Spanish, Portuguese, Malay and Hindustani scholar and altogether a
66 very
tate talented and valuable public servant."
M
The palpably inefficient state of the Police in 1846 in the detection of
ing
with crime-not one of its officers, from Mr. May the Superintendent down
13 wards, understanding a word of the Chinese language- induced Mr.
hen Hillier, the Chief Magistrate, to address the Government suggesting my
arly employment therein. I give the following extract from his letter on
tion the subject : *
wi
M& " I have the honor to bring to your notice the enclosed letter from Mr. Holdforth,
eard Officiating Assistant Magistrate, reporting the services rendered by Mr. Caldwell in
n. giving information leading to the discovery of the cargo of a junk recently plundered
in the Lyee Moon passage.t
m " Mr. Caldwell has often expressed his ability to make similar discoveries, but has
m. feared to render himself obnoxious to censure by departing from the proper sphere
the of his duty ; and I would beg respectfully to remark that great benefit might accrue
to the public by the employment as Assistant Superintendent of Police of a person so
ans
well versed as Mr. Caldwell in the dialect of the Canton province, and, from long
experience, so well acquainted with the habits of the class of Chinese which forms
an the bulk of the population of this Colony. I know of no other person than Mr. Cald
On well possessed of these qualifications, and I believe that his appointment as above
proposed would not materially interfere with his duties as Interpreter."
85 There was not at that time, and never had been, any such office as As
hey sistant Superintendent of Police at Hongkong. The Government ap
proved of Mr. Hillier's recommendation, the office was made and I was
appointed to fill it. I continued to hold this office until the year 1855
0.8
and the importance and diversity of the services I have from time to time
rendered, have been the subject of frequent public acknowledgment, to
the great mortification, as I afterwards found, of Mr. May, who, though
hat the Superintendent, was thus as it were thrown into the shade-to say
nothing of the implied censure cast upon him in the letter of the Chief
Magistrate just quoted.
ога I feel reluctant to be compelled to speak so often of my services lest
the I may be exposed to the charge of egotism ; but the terms of deprecia
the tion in which Mr. Anstey indulges towards me leave me no alternative,
* This was as far back as sixteen years ago. Subsequent study has improved my know
鳖 the written language.
ledge of
ed Mr. Holdforth says, " This is the only instance on record in which property stolen from
" trading vessels and landed here has been brought to light."
12
as it is mainly by a recapitulation of the public services performed by me
from time to time, and the opinion entertained of them by my superiors,
that I can refute his unscrupulous mis-statements and unjust insinuations.
In March 1853 Mr. May having been appointed Acting Assistant
Magistrate in consequence of Mr. Mitchell's departure on leave to Eng
land, I was appointed , ad interim, to Mr. May's post of Superintendent
of Police.
I held the uncontrolled Superintendency of the Police for a period of
fifteen months, when, Mr. Mitchell having returned and resumed his
duties, Mr. May relieved me of the Superintendency of the Police and I
returned to my former duties of General Interpreter to the Government
and Assistant Superintendent of Police..
I had the honor of receiving from the government the following ac
knowledgment of the manner in which I had performed the onerous
duties which had devolved upon me during the period of the Russian
war :
COLONIAL SECRETARY'S OFFICE,
Victoria, Hongkong, 29th June, 1854.
SIR, The resumption of your former duties gives the Lieutenant Governor an op
portunity that he gladly embraces to testify in an official manner to the ability and
vigilance shewn by you when filling the very important post of Superintendent of Po
lice during the preceding fifteen months while Mr. Mitchell the Assistant Magistrate
was absent on leave.
The Lieutenant Governor desires further to remark that the extraordinary exertions
required from you immediately subsequent to the declaration of war, when every en
deavour was being made to place the Colony in as efficient a state of defence as cir
cumstances would permit, were performed in a spirit of much readiness and self- denial
rendering them so honorable to yourself as they were of undoubted service to the
Government.
I have &c. , &c.,
C. B. HILLIER,
Officiating Colonial Secretary.
To
D. R. CALDWELL, Esq.,
General Interpreter and Assistant
Superintendent of Police.
In July 1855 my connection with the Government service of the Co
lony ceased. The salary I was receiving was so much under what I felt
I was justly entitled to from my often acknowledged usefulness to the
Government and public, and my applications for an increase having been
refused, I sent in my resignation on the 3rd of that month. It was ac
cepted by the Government in the following terms :
13
COLONIAL SECRETARY'S OFFICE,
Hongkong, 5th July, 1855.
SIR,-In reply to your letter of the 3rd inst . I am directed to state that your resig
nation of the offices of General Interpreter and Assistant Superintendent of Police is
accepted from that date.
I am also instructed to convey to you the regret of His Excellency the Governor at
the termination of your connection with this Government, to which for many years
past youhave rendered so much important and valuable service.
I have, & c .,
W. T. MERCER ,
Colonial Secretary.
D. R. CALDWELL, Esq.
After leaving the Colonial service I became part owner of a small
steamer called the Eaglet, which I employed in trade between the
neighbouring ports and Hongkong.
Between the large island of Hoinam, situated on the West Coast of
China, and Hongkong and Canton there has always existed a large and
valuable trade, confined solely to the Chinese and carried on in their
own Junks , of which there are some hundreds in constant employment
between these places. I was the first European who embarked in this
traffic. I chartered eight large lorchas at Hongkong, loaded them with
Cotton, &c., and towed them with the Eaglet to Hoi How a port in Hoinam ,
where I sold my cargo and purchased in return the produce of the island
consisting ofIndigo, Oil, &c. Since that time other Europeans at Hong
kong have embarked in the trade and vessels especially adapted to the
purpose have been purchased for the express object ofpursuing the traffic ;
and by the recent treaty concluded between Lord Elgin and the Chinese
Commissioners , Hoinam is also named as one of the new ports to be
opened to British commerce. At the time I speak of however the
native trade experienced a considerable check from the increase and
boldness of the pirates which infest these seas. The trading Junks
could only venture to sail together in large numbers for mutual protec
tion, and even then they were not safe from the attacks of the large
piratical fleets which lay in wait for them. I conceived the idea of
establishing a convoy by means of my steamer for the protection of
these vessels in their voyages to and from Hoinam, the distance between
that place and Hongkong being about two hundred and fifty miles. I
accordingly equipped the Eaglet with this object and took command of
her myself. I acquainted the Chinese Admiral at Hoinam with my
project, which received his ready approval and co -operation . The steamer
was to be remunerated for the protection she afforded, by the payment
of a specified sum by every junk which chose to avail itself of the steamer's
convoy. The contract for each voyage was made and acknowledged be
fore, and received the sanction of the head Mandarin of the island. I
14
was bound to use my best endeavours to prevent the capture or destruc
tion of any junk belonging to the convoy by piratical vessels during the
voyage.
In this manner I convoyed several large fleets of trading junks be
tween these places, and on every occasion except one, brought every vessel
safely into port ; the mere presence of the steamer often being sufficient
to deter any of the many pirate vessels we frequently met from attack
ing the convoy .
I repeatedly received the thanks of the Admiral of Hoinam for the
successful manner in which I performed my part of the contract, and for
the efficient protection I afforded to the commerce of the island .
I have entered thus at length into this matter because Mr. Anstey
has, while publishing in extenso in his pamphlet Dr. Macgowan's just
denunciations of the depredations committed at Ningpo and its vicinity
by a set of lawless vagabonds who, under the pretext of affording pro
tection to trading vessels, committed robbery and murder at sea as well
as on land,―attempted to connect the Eaglet withthem. According to Dr.
Macgowan " whole villages were reduced to ashes, the men butchered
" and the women violated ; some being carried off to the Lorchas, and
" retained in purchased exemption from such treatment by paying large
66 sums of money. No sum however was sufficient to redeem a mother
"6 or daughter whom the fiends determined to take to their vessels. Chi
66 nese officers who attempted to thwart these buccaneers were killed
66
on the spot or captured and held in ransom. The number of unof
66
fending natives who have been put to death -some of them tortured
" in the most diabolical manner- would not be credicted if told." Hor
rible as are these atrocities, and confined, as both Mr. Anstey and every
one else in China well know they were, to Ningpo and the river Min
more than 600 miles away from that part of the Coast of China to which
alone the voyages of the Eaglet extended , Mr. Anstey wishes his readers
to believe that they were shared in by the Eaglet during the time I owned
and commanded her ! He says, " On the part attributed to the Eaglet
" in these buccaneering forays there will be found in the minutes of the
" commission, so often referred to, traces of some very imperfect exami
" nations of persons then serving on board with their equivocating and
" unsatisfactory answers." I need scarcely say that there is not one tittle of
evidence throughout the whole course of the investigation to found the
shadow of a charge of the Eaglet's participation in any of these disgrace
ful "buccaneering forays," nor need I adduce any thing further to shew
that this barefaced attempt of Mr. Anstey to connect me with these
atrocities, is as false and unfounded as I shall hereafter abundantly prove
all his other accusations to be.
15
I may here add that after I had been sometime thus engaged in afford
ing protection to the trading junks of Hoinam, His Excellency the
British Naval Commander-in - Chief of the Station deemed it proper to
establish a similar protection , free of all charge, to native vessels trading
between the Treaty Ports and Hongkong in consequence of the alarm
ing increase of piracy in these seas.
After the lapse of seventeen months, overtures were made to me by
the government for again entering the Colonial Service. I consented to 1
do so on condition that the salary to be given was such as to offer
sufficient inducement to me to remain, and that my previous period of
twelve years' service should be reckoned in my claims to a superanua
tion allowance. I sold my steamer, gave up trade, and on the 15th of
November 1856 I was appointed Registrar General and Protector of
Chinese, which offices I continue to hold.
I have deemed it necessary to enter into this brief history of my
career to shew how utterly devoid of foundation and destitute of truth
are the disparaging and opprobious observations Mr. Anstey has thought
fit to apply to me in his pumphlet and in his letter to the Secretary of
State for the Colonies.
•
I shall now proceed to notice the principal charges and accusations
Mr. Anstey reiterates against me both as a public officer and a private
individual, notwithstanding they have been disposed of by the Com
mission appointed to inquire into them and before which he appeared as
prosecutor against me.
In his letter to the Secretary of State Mr. Anstey makes the follow
ing statement :
" On the 4th July and 3rd September 1857 , two remarkable convictions for piracy "
took place in the Supreme Court of Hongkong : the first that of the famous American
leader of Chinese pirates Eli Boggs ; the latter that of his employer and confederate
the Chinese pirate Ma-chow Wong. Both these men had been nearly connected
with Mr. Caldwell and the facts which transpired at their trials came in aid of other
information received by me about that time from Mr. Dixson, Mr. May, Mr. Inglis
the Marine Magistrate and others so much to the prejudice of Mr. Caldwell's cha
racter, that by the end of 1857 my suspicion had ripened into absolute conviction that
to him and his close alliances with Chinese criminals the corruptions complained of
were chiefly and perhaps solely to be ascribed."
"
For Mr. Anstey's " spicions " and " convictions " I have the utmost
contempt. Those who know him best will bear me out in the observa
tion that where persecution is his bent and the gratification of his re
vengeful feelings his object, he can produce at will suspicions and con
victions to serve his purposes, as well as unhesitatingly give utterance
to the most unscrupulous inventions - the most wilful distortions of fact
and the basest fabrications.
F
16
He then continues :
"The first named pirate Eli Boggs in a speech of great power which lasted two
hours and made a great impression upon every body present, bitterly reproached the
Hongkong Government and Mr. Caldwell with his own seduction into the crimes for
which he was about to suffer. If was a most scandalous scene especially because the
demeanor of Mr. Caldwell under the infliction was clearly that of a guilty man . The
statements moreover were in my opinion (and I was not the only one who so thought)
too circumstantial to be entirely false. I found it my duty to represent the scandal
which had occurred in Court."
I shall notice in the first place the preposterous assertion of an alleged
connection between myself and Eli Boggs the pirate. In a subsequent
part of this paper I will advert more fully to the equally absurd allega
tion of my " alliance with Chinese Criminals." That I never had any
connection whatever at any time with such a man as Eli Boggs I feel
that it is almost superfluous for me to declare ; but of Eli Boggs ' con
nection with the Chinese pirates of the coast I had often received in
timation, and was long on the look out for him . On more than one
occasion upon information furnished by myself to the Government, Her
Majesty's Ships were put in motion in pursuit of the piratical fleet on
board of which my information led me to believe he was. The depreda
tions committed by this particular fleet were so frequently the subject
of complaint that I made every exertion to find out its places of retreat,
and it was also on information given by me that this fleet of piratical
vessels was ultimately destroyed or dispersed by H. M. S. Sampson.
Boggs himself escaped. All this Boggs knew perfectly well, and what
ever he may have said at this trial to my prejudice (which was certainly
not of a nature to justify the highly exaggerated language applied to it
by Mr. Anstey) was doubtless prompted by a feeling of irritation against
one who he knew was the means of putting an end to his piratical
ravages, and at whose expense he was endeavouring to procure his own
exculpation . It must appear absurd to the " conviction" of any man but
Mr. Anstey that I should interest myself to bring about the capture and
punishment of such a man if I had been "nearly connected" with him
in acts of piracy.
But what does this same man say subsequently when produced as a
witness before the Commission appointed to inquire into the charges
brought against me by Mr. Anstey, and when it may be supposed, if he
really had any thing to say to my prejudice, he would have done so ?
He says first. " I went from here to Canton in a Lorcha belonging to
" Ma-chow Wong in October or November 1856. About a week after,
“ I was evidence for a man named Leong Ahee who was charged with
66
piracy. Mr. Anstey allowed me to be examined and afterwards told
17
" the Court my evidence could not be taken." [ Here Boggs also said ,
though it was not taken down on the minutes of the Commissioners,
"You," pointing his finger at Mr. Anstey, "were the cause of my turn
" ing pirate. You drove me to it by representing me to the Court, to
" be a person of bad character whose evidence was not fit to be receiv
66
' ed, " or words to that effect. ] " I was passenger on board this Lorcha
"belonging to Ma- chow Wong. I never sailed or served in any vessel
"which I knew belonged to Mr. Caldwell or Ma-chon Wong, or in
"any vessel in which to my knowledge they had any interest or share.
" Beaver was in command of the Lorcha at the time. The first time I
46 saw Mr. Caldwell was about three years ago in this place. I have
"known Mr. Grand- Pré for about the same time. I have never been
" intimate with either of them ."
" I
In another part of his evidence before the Commission he says: "
“ knew the Eaglet which Mr. Caldwell used to command . I was never
"in any way connected with her. I have only been on board once
66
when I went on board of her in Hongkong to see Mr. Stone the En
" gineer."
In another place he says " I have seen Mr. Caldwell in Gaol,* but he
((
never spoke to me, except when once asking me if I had* any com
66
plaints, and then he did not speak to me any more than to the others
66
who were present at the time. I have had no correspondence or com
" munication with Mr. Caldwell on the subject of this inquiry."
As an instance of Mr. Anstey's sense of fairness and impartiality, I
may remark here that be objected to the reception of the evidence of
this man given on oath in a case in the Supreme Court in which he was
a witness for a Chinese prisoner long before his apprehension , on the
score of his reputed bad character ; —and yet he now makes use of this
same man's bare unsupported statement, made when he was on his trial
for piracy and when he was doing his best to exculpate himself, as proof
against myself of the grave charge of complicity with pirates—so clear
apparently to his " convictions " that " he felt it his duty to represent the
scandal " to the Government.
In the same paragraph of his letter to the Secretary of State Mr.
Anstey adds that my " demeanor under the infliction was that of a
guilty man." In what respect it was so he does not state- in fact it is
only another of his fabrications.
It was necessary to give a colouring to
the picture he had drawn, and this was the readiest way he found of
doing it.
It would appear that at the trial reference was made by Boggs to
some paper which Mr. Anstey and his partisans wished to make appear
* Whither I went in my capacity of visiting Justice for the week.
18
was written by me and contained expressions highly prejudicial to my
self. Mr. Anstey in his statement before the Commission, -says, " I,
" as Attorney General conducted the prosecution of Eli Boggs . I
(6
perfectly remember Eli Boggs with a paper or papers in his hand from
" which he made his speech to the Jury . I was very much shocked at
<<
hearing Mr. Lyons * the other day state in evidence that Boggs had
66
produced in the Supreme Court a paper stated by himself to have been
"written by Mr. Caldwell and recommending Ma-chow Wong, Mr.
" Caldwell's brother, to the ' pirates with whom Eli Boggs served .' He
" also stated, though it does not appear on your minutes, that he was
46
surprised at the paper making no impression in the Court."
I can only say that I never wrote any such paper and that I am en
tirely ignorant of its authorship, whilst Boggs himself has since denied
in his evidence before the Commission that he ever made any such state
ment as Mr. Anstey puts into the mouth of Lyons.
The paper referred to however is now deposited in the office of the
Colonial Secretary, and the following is a copy of it verbatim et literatim :
VICTORIA, HONGKONG, January 4th, 1856.
MY DEAR CAPT. PAIPEA.
I have heard that the Lorcha Cumhopon has now at anchor in Intoofok a few miles
out of Macao which the two men who were going with you desired to sell the Lorcha
to another people : but there is no right for them to do so, because the Lorcha I
owned one half and they two men owned only one half, how could they sell the Lor
cha there at once without my order. The bearer of this latter is my brother, and will
you be so kind as to sail the Lorcha with my brother back to Hongkong this is what
I hope for.
I remain, &c.,
(Signed,) KIEKEE.
(True Copy,) W. T. MERCER,
Colonial Secretary.
What possible reference this paper bears to myself, or how it can be
construed into a recommendation of Ma-chow Wong "to the pirates
with whom Eli Boggs served " can be best explained by Mr. Anstey and
Lyons his false witness.
This man Lyons, under instructions from Mr. May (see his evidence)
had been to the Gaol to see Boggs before the latter gave his evidence
before the Commission, evidently with the view of obtaining some ad
missions from Boggs which might be used in evidence against myself.
This is what Boggs himself says in his evidence before the Commission :
" Lyons was up in the Gaol one day and asked me if I knew where the paper
" which I had read at the Supreme Court was. I told him I saw it put
* A Police officer under Mr. May.
•
19
" back in the box at the Supreme Court. I believe he asked me a few
(6
questions . He might have asked me who had written the paper, but I
" could not have told him that it was written by Mr. Caldwell, for I do
" not know and cannot say that I have any reason for thinking that it was •
" written by Mr. Caldwell. I believe he said something to me to the
" effect that if he was brought up he would like to be able to produce
" this paper to shew that Mr. Caldwell was connected with that sort of
"people."
This will give those at a distance some idea of the efforts made by my
enemies here to get up evidence against me. . This man Lyons immedia
tely after the close of the Commission of Inquiry, was rewarded by Mr.
May for his services by promotion to the rank of Deputy Inspector of
Police, as was also another Constable (Roberts) for similar services per
formed by him in the same business. Even Mr. May himself seems to
have attempted the same thing, for he says in his evidence before the
Commission : " I spoke to Boggs once or twice with a view ofgetting
information from him, but finding I got nothing but moonshine, desist
" ed. He spoke about Wong Akee, but said nothing upon which I should
" consider myself justified in acting."*
Boggs also stated before the Commission , " I cannot say that Lyons
" made any suggestions to me regarding the evidence I was to give.
" He put a great many questions to me, and in a ridiculous manner
(6
which would lead me to believe that something was meant. He did
" not suggest any particular points on which I should give evidence— he
<<
was only two minutes speaking to me altogether.”
The explanation which Boggs himself gives of this paper before the
Commission is as follows, and though somewhat lengthy it will scarcely
bear curtailment :
" At the period of my apprehension I remember a paper being found on me. The
paper as near as I can recollect was written for Ma-chow Wong and sent out to a
lorcha to a young man named Beaver who had charge of the lorcha. It stated he
was part owner of a lorcha. Some one on board was about to take the lorcha away,
and he wished the lorcha to be brought back. It said nothing further. I had se
veral papers when I was arrested. This paper was in English. I remember something
about a paper which I requested might be taken particular care of, as it would be of
use to me. I saw that paper at the Supreme Court on my trial. It was put into my
hands by Mr. May.t I believe I read the contents of it in Court. I handed it to
Mr. May who replaced it in the tin box in which it was found. It was not handed
to the Jury, but a piece of calico with some Chinese figures on it was. I gave Beaver
* It is a pity Mr. May did not give the particulars of his interviews with Boggs and the
information he received from him which he so elegantly calls " Moonshine." It might have
thrown some light on the proceedings of himself and his sattelites Lyons and Roberts.
+ Mr. May, with wohm I had been officially connected for many years, could surely have
said whether the paper was in my hand writing or not.
20
an order to get it when he was discharged from Gaol. I gave him an order to get all
the papers which I had when arrested , but do not know whether he got possession of
this paper. I believe he did. I was told so by a short sentence prisoner. I got this
paper from Beaver himself. It was not his intention to give it to me. We were in
two separate boats and I sent on board of his boat for some cigars and at the bottom
of the box which he sent me I found this paper. I could not say in whose hand writ
ing it was and that is all I know of it. I might have said in the Supreme Court that
it was as likely to be in Mr. Caldwell's hand writing as in any one else's, but I could
not have said that it was in Mr. Caldwell's hand writing for I do not know Mr.
Caldwell's hand writing. The paper did not mention Mr. Caldwell's name nor do I
recollect the name Sam Kwei. It was addressed to Charles Peapa. "
And further on he adds,
" I don't think that the paper produced in Court recommended Mah-chow Wong to
the notice ofthe pirates for the purchase of provisions and other articles from him.
The paper did not mention Mah-chow Wong as being Mr. Caldwell's brother.”
The rest of Bogg's statement consisted principally of hear-say evidence.
、 Thus much for Mr. Anstey's charge against me of complicity with "the
famous American leader of Chinese pirates Eli Boggs ."
Let us look at another of the statements which appears in Mr. Anstey's
pamphlet. He says, "There had been made through Mr. Caldwell a
" most improper application to Dr. Bridges' government for the remissi
66
on of the sentence of transportation passed by the Supreme Court on
66 one of three partners * who had been convicted of the offence of receiv
❝ing stolen goods under very aggravated circumstances ; and against
"which application the Chief Justice, the Jury and the Attorney Gene
"ral had strongly protested." He prefaces this with a statement that a
woman named Shap Lok (whom he falsely asserts was a " reputed
" sister " or " sworn sister by adoption " of my wife) had received a
large bribe (400 Dollars) from the prisoner's friends to procure a remis
sion of his sentence, and he evidently intends it to be believed, though he
does not expressly say it, that these 400 Dollars came into my hands.
The Commissioners in their report arrive at the conclusion that a Chi
nese female named Shap Lok did receive a sum of 400 Dollars for her
supposed influence in procuring a remission of the prisoner's sentence, but
they dismiss the imputation of a relationship between her and my wife.
The disgraceful suggestion of this alleged relationship emanated from
Mr. May and does him infinite credit .
As Attorney General of the Colony, and as a barrister practising at
the local bar, Mr. Anstey knew perfectly well that all applications by pe
tition to the Government from Chinese must be forwarded through the
Protector of Chinese and that unless they come through that officer, the
In a Pawnbroker's Shop.
21
Government will not receive them ; and knowing this he nevertheless
most disingenuously strives to make it appear, that because in the ordi
nary course of my duty I forwarded to the Government the petition of
the parties in the case he refers to , I had made the " improper applica
tion " for a remission of the prisoner's sentence . He might with equal
justice assert that every one of the many petitions and applications which
it has been my duty to transmit to the Government since I have held my
present office (many of them containing the most absurd requests) were
applications made by me on behalf of the parties who preferred them.
But what are the facts of the case ? A pawnbroker had been convicted
of receiving stolen goods and was sentenced to fourteen years' transpor
tation. I knew nothing whatever either of the circumstances of the case
or the parties. Some of the prisoner's friends thought of petitioning the
Government for a remission of his sentence , and it seems went to the
Acting Colonial Secretary with a petition in Chinese, which that officer
refused to receive because it was neither translated nor transmitted
through the usual channel. He directed the petitioners to take their
petition to the Protector of Chinese and they brought it to me accord
ingly. This was the first I knew of any effort being made to obtain a
remission of the prisoner's sentence . In the usual course of my duty I
translated the petition into English and transmitted it to the Acting Co
lonial Secretary, but without any remark from myself- any opinion of
its merits, or any recommendation in favor of its prayer. This was the
whole part I had in the matter. I simply performed my duty. I was
not referred to by the authorities, nor had I any communication with
them on the subject. In the mean time the prisoner's friends had obtain
ed the assistance of a Solicitor and a petition in English in his favor was
got up and signed by some of the European residents including the jury
by whom he was tried ; but I heard nothing more of the matter until
some time after, when a friend of the prisoner came to me and told me
that the sentence had been commuted, and, to my surprise and indigna
tion, asked me "if the 400 Dollars should be paid to the woman Shap
Lok for getting the prisoner pardoned, as she said the money was intend
ed for me." I desired the man to pay no money whatever, and on my
telling him that I would inquire into the matter and would call upon him
to state what he knew of it, he said that he knew nothing about it him
self, and that he had only mentioned what had been told him by his
partners. I immediately went in search of the woman Shap Lok, and
the police were likewise set in motion by Mr. May to discover her, but
none of us succeeded in finding her then.
Whoever may have been the person named Shap Lok who was said to