“ I knew that that man was Mr. Caldwell's principal
" and most relied -upon informant. ... My knowledge
" of Mah Chow Wong arose from iny knowing that
* Printed Report, p. 2.
54
“ Mr. Caldwell used him as an informer. Every per
6
son connected with the Police Department, and the
" Chinese community generally, knew of the position
in which Mah Chow Wong stood to Mr. Caldwell.
“ Up to the date of my letter of the 20th July (1857],
“ I believed , as I therein expressed , that Mr. Cald
“ well was the dupe of Mah Chow Wong. I judged
“ this partly from believing, that Mr. Caldwell was
" under family influence. * When I found out,
. .
“ from the examination of Mah Chow Wong's books
" and papers, the extent and variety of the villanies
" of Mah Chow Wong, I was, very much against my
will, and led by common sense, necessitated to alter
66 >
my opinion about his being a dupe .”
Mah Chow Wong, that is to say, “ Horse-boy
Wong," -- for his true name is Wong Akce, was
first known to the British community as a stable
servant ;- next, as a small shop-keeper ; --- and, at
length, as a rich merchant and ship-owner at Hong
Kong .
66
It is a saying of the Chinese Mandarins, that " SO
long as a thief does not leave the empire, he can be
“ traced and caught: --but let him once get to Hong
“ Kong, and you lose him for ever." He settles
down under the rule of a Bowring, a Caine, or a
Bridges, and, enjoying the protection of the Caldwell
of the day, pursues his avocations in peace and con
fidence.
That was the true source of Mah Chow Wong's
prosperity. The notoriety of his character was no
hindrance to him . He enjoyed the protection and
alliance of Mr. Caldwell. He commanded a secret
* The family connection with Chinese people is here alluded to .
55
society , and made himself the master of his clan .
Their members were to a man police -informers — and
pirates; and, ashore or afloat, his purposes were
equally well served . Even the European police of
the island were indirectly, yet almost entirely, placed
at his disposal. He was the Jonathan Wild of Hong
Kong ;—he received tribute from the hordes of the
pirates of the China seas, who infested our trade, and
robbed and murdered our people ;-he levied black
mail from those who were spared ; -- he equipped
piratical expeditions on his own account ; - he shel
tered those of his friends, and betrayed those of his
enemies : -- he denounced as pirates those who were
innocent of piracy, and his denunciation was destruc
tion ; for the Hong Kong Government, having his
simple assurance , needed no further proof to set in
motion the forces of Her Majesty ; - and the finding
of the Commission itself * confirms, to the letter, the
statement of the official witnesses, that, almost as he
thought fit, numbers of the Hong Kong Chinese were
arrested or liberated, boats and property seized or
restored ; and yet, on no occasion could any of his
victims be found to appear openly against him, and
demand justice for those misdeeds; for the Chinese
were “ in terror of their lives.” And wherefore ? Let
one of those witnesses explain the reason.
“During the whole of that time, whenever reference
was made to Ma-chow Wong , either by subordinate
" officers of police, by old European residents , or by
“ Chinese, they always coupled his name with some
epithet having reference to his bad character. As a
* Report, etc., pp . 2, 3.,
† Mr. May, J. P.; Evidence, ubisupra, pp. 29.40.
56
“ matter of repute and notoriety, I know that Ma
“ chow Wong has, for years, been considered an ex
" tortioner, a recipient of bribes from gambling -house
“ keepers, a confederate of pirates, and a receiver of
" stolen goods. I also know, that, because of his well
“66 knownposition with regard to Mr. Caldwell, which
every Chinaman in the colony very well knew, Ma
“ chow Wong was supposed to be in possession of
great power, and was held in great dread. Of the
" extent of the dread I became fully aware, when it
was iny duty to investigate the cases against him .
“ I spoke to very many Chinese of standing and
“ property, and they all exhibited a knowledge of
“ his evil character, but a reluctance to do more than
own it.
€ “ As an instance ,-at the time that an appeal was
" made to his Excellency for the pardon of Ma-chow
Wong, I knew that aa Chinese petition , numerously
signed, had been presented in his favour. Late
one evening, one of the wealthiest, perhaps the
wealthiest, Chinaman in the colony came to me,
66
" and said, that he also represented the feelings of
" another wealthy Chinaman . The man said in
• broken English, ' I am almost afraid to come to
you, I come all same thief ; but I want you to tell
" the Governor, that the Chinese who signed the
" petition dared not refuse to do so ; but, if the
" Governor really wants to know, what those people
mean, who signed it, let him give each of them
Wone black ball, and one white one, and there won't
>
" " be very many in favour of Ma-chow Wong. ” I
“ told him , “ I can't tell the Governor any such non
sense. If you are a race ofcowards,you must bear
" the consequences :"" ܝ
57
And it was with this inan that, according to Mr.
Caldwell himself, * — who reluctantly admits the fact
after it had been proved by inany witnesses,-a part
nership, in at least eight Chinese lorchas, subsisted ,-
from the beginning of 1855 , if not earlier, down to the
end of 1856, if not later ;—for the Colonial Register of
the “ Kee-loong-poo-on "" lorcha was not cancelled in
the Colonial Secretariat before April, 1857 ;—at all
events, during a period, ominously contemporaneous
with the period ofthe well-known story of the piratical
lorcha " Arrow ! ”
All of these lorchas, as I gather from the same tardy
confession , " carried the ' Eaglet's' flag;" - the armed
steamer, already mentioned ; — which was also part
owned by Mah - Chow Wong, commanded by Mr.
Caldwell in person ,, and “ principally engaged,” con
fesses her engineer, “ in conveying Chinese merchant
junks up and down the coast," or, as he elsewhere
more emphatically calls it, “ the convoy business.” ť
In such a connection, it is easy to conceive that it
became a very profitable business. Mr. Caldwell
himself incidentally speaks of as many as ninety -two
Chinese junks, being under his convoy at one time.
To Mr. May, on another occasion, his words were ; 6
“ Such is the fame and terror caused by the ‘ Eaglet,'
that many vessels have applied to us ; and we are
6
thinking of granting the ' Eaglet's ' flag as a pass of
protection .” | That flag would have been a more
effectual “ protection " against the trembling Chinese
-whatever the character of the vessel bearing it ,
than Mr. Caldwell's illegal certificate, under his office
seal , at a subsequent period, was able to afford to
* Evidence, etc. , pp. 90-95 ; Report of Commission , p. 22..
+ Ibid., p. 75.
> # Ibid ., 95-140 .
58
suspicious vessels, attempting to break the blockade
of the Canton River, against the vigilance of our
cruisers employed to enforce it . *
The " convoy business ” unhappily needs no ex
planation now ; since the horrid events of the last two
years in the Ningpo and Min rivers, have shed their
blood-red light to illustrate its meaning.
It is no longer permitted , to any man , to doubt the
truth of Dr. Mac Gowan's solemn denunciations from
Ningpo, about a year after the last cruise of the
“ Eaglet . ” +
Being personally cognisant of the severe and
“ protracted sufferings of the people, among whom I
66
dwell, necessity is laid upon me of exposing the
“ cruelties inflicted on them , and of appealing for
“ sympathy in their behalf.
66 One disastrous result of the late war with Eng
1
“ land was the discovery by the Chinese of the im
66
potence of their rulers. Multitudes were, conse
quently, soon arrayed against the Government,
“ particularly on the seaboard, where weakness and
“ incapacity were most palpable . Piratical fleets
“ became so numerous, as almost to destroy the
" coasting trade ; poor fishermen , even , were not
66
exempt from spoliation. It was seldom, however,
" that great cruelties were practised. Instead of acting
6
on the maxim of western pirates, that dead men 6
666 tellno tales,'- they seemed to hold, that ' dead men
can furnish no more spoil ; ' and, accordingly, cap
5 tured, seamen and vessels were always redeemable
by money. A deputation of the captors repaired
* Evidence, etc., pp. 31--91 . 9)
+ " Remarks on Chinese Foreign Relations,” Parts I. and II., pp.
2, 3 (Shanghae, October , 1857),
59
" to port, negociated for the highest obtainable sum ,
" and then returned with the ransom to release their
« prizes.
66
“ As a corrective of this growing evil, merchants
" and traders paid liberally for foreign convoy : an
66
arrangement which for aa time was mutually advan
tageous. As the junks sailed in fleets, a moderate
" contribution from each vessel secured it exemption
" from a heavy black-mail ; while the foreigner was
“ merely delayed a few days on his voyage. Even
" the imperial navy profited by it ; -- admirals put to
sea in fair weather, going out with the ebb and
66
66
returning by the flood, and performing a cruize in
safety. Those were halycon days; but, unhappily,
"66 they were brief; in so much that they are now well
nigh forgotten .
66
Convoying became an object of competition. The
proximity of the Macao Portuguese, with their
“ simple lorchas or sloops, inanned to a great extent
66
by Manilamen or Cantonese, enabled them to under.
“ bid those who sailed square -rigged vessels; and soon
" the Lusitanian colours displaced all others from
of this line of business . Abuses quickly sprang up ;
“ causing mariners, fishermen, and coastlanders to
66
sigh for the times, when native pirates pursued
“ their comparatively harmless vocations. The poor
people were formerly chastised with whips; now
" with scorpions. Smuggling, also, the never-ceasing
“ vice of foreigners, assumed a systematic form at
" the non- consular ports.
“ Lorchamen often dictated , to Custom -house offi
cers, the amount of duty to be paid for the whole
“ fleet; reserving to themselves the sum abated.
" While intimidating mandarins ashore, they prae
60
6 tised cxtortions on their protégés. It became no
longer optional with the native craft to employ
convoys; they were not at liberty to decline pro
“ tection, nor were they consulted as to the amount
“ they were to pay. From this, the transition to
66
piracy was easy ; and robbery and murder at sea
were followed by like crimes on land. Whole vil
lages 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 sumsof money .
“ No sum , however, was sufficient to redeem a mother
66
" or daughter, whom the fiends determined to take to
" their vessels. Chinese officers, who attempted to
" thwart these buccaneers, were killed on the spot or
captured and held to ransom . The number of un
" offending natives who have been put to death — 1
64
some of them tortured in a most diabolical manner
would not be credited if told . Much of my
“ surgical practice in China has been due to these
piracies and forays. Of course, the loss of the
16**
Chinese in property has been proportionably great.
" No device that could be employed , for raising
(
money or supplies, was left untried. The store of
yams, dried fish and fuel laid up for winter's use
“ in the hut of the solitary peasant,—the only goat,
6 and last fowl of the farmer , —were ( and still are,
" for the evils yet exist) carried off by the foreign
“$ 6 marauder . The fisheries were subjected to heavy
" charges, for this coercive protection.
“ Adventurers, who could not command a lorcha,
“ fitted up native boats, carrying on depredations in
“ estuaries and rivers. Others opened offices in the
56 small towns, for the sale of passes, which boats,
61
" crossing from headland to headland , were com
pelled to possess,, in order to escape greater exactions
“ when under weigh.
“ Not a small part of the wrongs, perpetrated by
" these boats were by natives, under the cover and
protection of foreign habiliments. In such great
“ fear are foreigners held, that few possess the courage
“ to withstand even their effigies. A bold and un
" scrupulous man may do almost anything with im
punity. In illustration of this, I shall be excused
“ in briefly adverting to an incident, the particulars
" of which I made public, at the time of the occur
66
rence . At the mouth of the Ningpo river is a
“ small village of saltmakers, at which the salt com
“ missioner stations a deputy. This officer, after
being beaten and compelled to swallow excrement,
“ was driven away by Portuguese, who came and
“ collected the salt gabel in the name of his Consul.
“ A copy of the proclamation, issued by the mis
creant, I myself copied , and sent to that Consul at
“ Ningpo.
“ About nine-tenths of these sanguinary harpies
were Portuguese. The balance consisted of vaga
“ bonds from every maritime state under heaven,
representing almost every class in society. I have
“ known a Cossack, from the Lena, rob a Chusan
“ fisherman of the leavings of one of my piratical
townsmen, a former member of the New York bar,
" at that time in the Portuguese service. ....
.
" What course, it will be asked, did the local autho
“ rities pursue towards the invaders ? They simply
“ remonstrated. When, for a brief period, the duties
• of U. S. Consul at this port were imposed on
me, I was frequently applied to, by H. E. , the 7
62
Tautai, for information as to the nationality of the
parties, who, in boats and lorchas, were oppressing
“ the people. Chinese officials, on the coast, are in
“ constant dread of provoking the ire of any foreign
66
power ; they believe that we are all linked toge
ther, and that any one would resent the least re
s sistance which another might experience .
“ With the exception of the intimation furnished by
" the case of a score of Japanese pirates, who were
publicly boiled to death in the streets of Ningpo
( 1406, A.D. ) , by order of the envoy of that country
" at Peking, the natives have have been led to
66
suppose, that foreigners are amenable to no law :
" and they submit to this havoc, as to the pestilence,
" typhoon, or earthquake —the
— the irresistible powers of
66 nature .
" For the past few weeks the coastlanders have
enjoyed comparative peace, owing to foreign in
“ tervention ;-an
; intervention made, be it observed,
" under circumstances which absolve the Chinese
" from any obligation of gratitude. The circum
“ stances were briefly these.-- Cantonese pirates, re
garding their Christian rivals with envy, have long
“ been endeavouring to supplant them in convoying
“and levying black-mail. Many were the conflicts,
" and varying the success, of these interesting
belligerents, and great was the loss of life and
66
property. In almost every instance, however, such
respect had one party for the ability of the other to
" inflict harın, that these losses were on the part of
" the unfortunate clients.
66 More formidable rivals to the Portuguese were
some Frenchmen , who opened an office at Chinhai ,
“ for transacting business in the protecting line, and
63
“ became successful competitors for guarding —that
is, plundering — the Chusan fisheries. Being few in
“ number, they were soon put hors de combat by the
66
jealous Portuguese, who demolished the dwelling,
destroyed the boats, and mangled the bodies of the
66
new firm . The French and Cantonese then united
“ against the common enemy, but suffered a bloody
" defeat in the first encounter . To avenge them
“ selves on the triumphant Macao-men , the Cantonese
portion of the coalition raised a powerful fleet, and
“ engaged a number of Frenchmen , a few English
inen and Italians, and a couple of Americans, to
* lead on the assault. Meanwhile, complaints from
“ the discomfited French, were received by the
“ Macao authorities, who forthwith authorized
“ H. I. M. ships-of-war to apprehend the offenders.
" When, in pursuance of her commission, the Capri
“ cieuse came up the river, the massacre of the un
“ fortunate Portuguese had already been, in part,
accomplished , by their foreign and native enemies.
“ On that, and the following days, between forty
" and fifty poor wretches, some of them innocent
" of any offence, were barbarously murdered ; and
" under circumstances, it must be confessed, little
“ creditable to some of the foreign residents.
“ It is owing to the hurricane thus briefly de
“ scribed, that the present calm exists ; and it is
probable, that, in consequence of the attention
“ which the case has excited, a considerable period of
66
repose will now be enjoyed. Yet similar transac
" tions, to those recited, must recur frequently, so
long as Chinese and foreign relations remain on
" the present basis.
“ I have already expressed my conviction, that the
64
" evils, which afflict this land from without, are
mainly owing to the concession of extra -territo
riality to Europeans and Americans. This abdica
" tion of authority is rendered more incompatible
“ with the well-being of the empire, by the presence
“ of foreign colonies, in one of her most important
provinces. Hong Kong and Macao, can appear to
“ Chinese statesmen in no better light than plague
spots, and to no inconsiderable extent. Such , it.
“ must be admitted , they have proved. Thence sail
" the lorchas, which defy and lay waste the country.
" There collisions are to be expected and provided
" against; and towards them must be exercised eternal
“ vigilance, to thwart the aggressive barbarian.
“ The abuses, to which those possessions on the
“ coast of this now only semi-independent empire give
birth, are, as regards the English colony, restrained
“ to no small degree, by wholesome correctives. The
" local press is eagle-eyed in detecting official remiss
ness, and fearleşs in animadverting on all acts of
public or private oppression. The coolie traffic,
“ though capable of being made a source of profit to
" the port, is constantly reprobated by the colonial
press. Moreover, the Hong Kong executive has,
on various occasions, adopted active measures for
“ redressing wrongs inflicted on the Chinese. But,,
" above all, and more to be relied on , is that public
“ opinion in England, which sympathises with
suffering in every clime.”
On the part attributed to the “ Eaglet," in some of
these buccaneering forays, there will be found, in
the Minutes of the Commission, so often referred to,
traces of some very imperfect examinations of persons
65
then serving on board, with their equivocating and
unsatisfactory answers.
But the direct, frank, and unequivocal written
confession, drawn up subsequently by the Chief
Magistrate, from the mouth of one of her engineers,
not examined before the Commission, will, no doubt,
receive in Downing Street and Parliament all that
attention, which, even to the extent of an acknow
ledgement of its reception from the Magistracy, has
been so I am informed by the Chief Magistrate
himself -- hitherto denied to it, on the part of Sir John
Bowring's Government.
As if these connections with the head of Chinese
pirates were not sufficient for Mr. Caldwell's purpose,
whatever that purpose may have been, we next find
him contracting, according to Chinese law and usage,
a marriage with his concubine Ayow, a singing girl
from a Chinese brothel, * and the reputed sister, by
adoption, ( or “ sworn sister") of another Chinese girl,
Shap Lok , inmate and keeper of a brothel at Hong
Kong ; and who, --such is one of the reluctant
findings of the Caldwell Commission,t – in the year
* Both Mr. Caldwell, and Ayow his wife (whom he called as a
witness ), admit the character of " singing girl," but deny that the
domicil was a brothel. But the direct evidence of her early
friend, Mr. Inglis, J.P., and that of Mr. May, leaves no doubt of the
fact. Compare Minutes, pp. 18. 22.
† Report, p. 2. It is true that, in their ignorance of the English
law, by which alone they conceived themselves bound strictly to
govern their enquiries, into the fitness of Mr. Caldwell for the Com
mission of the Peace, the Comnission, whilst they find the “ reputa
tion,” of sistership and affinity, find that there is no other proof
of the fact; as if there were need of any ! In the same mistaken
notion of the effect of reputation in matters of pedigree or character,
F
66
1858, received from a Chinese pawn- broking firm , a
large bribe, avowedly for having tampered with the
administration of criminal justice.
There had been made, through Mr. Caldwell, à
most improper, yet most successful, application to
Dr. Bridges' Government,-- for the remission of the
sentence of transportation, passed by the Supreme
Court, on one of their partners,—who had been con
victed of the offence of receiving stolen goods, under
very aggravated circumstances; and against which
application the Chief Justice, the jury, and the
Attorney -General, had strongly protested.
This Shap Lok was the go -between, who negotiated
the business, and the hand to receive the bribe ; --
only a small portion of that bribe being intended for
her own recompense ;-at least, so it was understood
between her and the Chinese applicants.
The punishment of fourteen years'transportation
was altogether remitted ;-and the short term of im
prisonment for three years — certainly not more than
three - was substituted.
The bribe was thereupon duly paid.
With reference to these deplorable facts, the Com
missioners ' Report is as follows :
“ It has also been proved that a Chinese female
they rejected the testimony of a score of witnesses, who came to prove
the family - connections of Mrs. Caldwell.
It is curious that she, and even her husband, in denying her own
sistership with Shap Lok, admit that of their respective mothers
(pp. 27, 29) , and that “ Chinese connections" were only thrown off
by her after her “ conversion ” to, and marriage in, the Church of
England, some years after their first intercourse and they do not
deny that, even now , Shap Lok " frequently " sees him officially at
his own house and, on those occasions, sees Mrs. Caldwell also (p.96 ).
67
" named Shap Lok, who had been in FREQUENT COM
MUNICATION WITH Mr. Caldwell (and is reported,
“ but not proved, * to be a sister, by Chinese usage,
" of Mrs. Caldwell), received from the Foo Tai
“ pawnshop, the sum of FOUR HUNDRED DOLLARS ;
“ because the sentence on a pawnbroker, belonging to
“ the said shop, had been mitigated, as was supposed,
through her influence; and that she received a
“FURTHER sum of FIFTY DOLLARS, for her personal
" trouble in the matter."
It would have been well for the Commissioners to
have found, more distinctly, the object for which the
first of these sums was levied .
But, as they distinctly do state that this is one of
their unanimous findings, “ in support of the infer
ence that Mr. Caldwell is unfit to be aa Justice of the
Peace;" but from which inference from the facts so
found, they, by a bare “ majority ” + dissented, the
public are left to suppose that, in the unaminous
opinion of that Commission ,-as the fifty dollars,
were appropriated to the personal compensation of
Shap Lok, for her agency and “ frequent communi
cation " with Mr. Caldwell in the matter,—so the
four hundred dollars were appropriated , in some
manner, to the benefit of the agent, through whom
the purport of these communications had been so
successfully pressed, upon the depositary ofthe Queen's
Prerogative of Grace.
If so,, it adds to the gravity of the case, that it is
of a date so recent as the spring of 1858 — a period
* See the preceding note .
† Sworn by their Chairman, on cross-examination, at the subse
quent trial of the Queen v. Tarrant, to have been a majority of ONE
only.
F 2
68
posterior by many months to the conviction of Mah
Chow Wong, to the discovery of the entries in his
trade books and private papers, so seriously incul
pating Mr. Caldwell, and compromising his official
accomplices , and to the terrible warning, which those
parties received, in the production—before the several
public departments , the Executive Council, and even
the community at large ( for the Government organ ,
the China Mail newspaper, had published them as
widely as its own circulation extended ) , — of the
proofs and evidences of their guilty connivances and
procurements on the behalf of, at least, that one con
victed criminal, - of, at least, that one member of the
great Chinese gang.:
I say , that it adds to the gravity of the case. For
it shows the sense they still entertained of their per
sonal security, strength, and pre-eminence , even on
the very eve of the mock enquiry, into what is called
the Caldwell Case .
In that point of view, I think it a more instructive
example, than many instances of older date , which
the witnesses against that man adduced , to justify their
opinion of his character ; but all of which the Com
inissioners have silently
· Doff'd aside,
And bid them pass ,"
without " finding " or notice !
I here allude to the atrocious part which Mah Chow
Wong himself and hisother confederates had, in the cap
ture,-in 1857,—under the false imputation of being
pirates, of upwards of seventy “ longhaired” Chinese re
bels, some on the high seas,—others relying peaceably on
British protection , — and in their surrender, without a
69
trial, to the cruellest of deaths, at the hands of the.
Imperialists on the opposite shore to Hong Kong ;
and this at a time when, under the supposition that
we were at war with the latter, as we then professed
to be, the murdered men had been soliciting our al
liance with the Tai Ping Wang, and offering their
help in the common quarrel, as they imagined it.*
I allude to the charges brought against him by
Mr. May, J.P. , Superintendent of Police, imputing
complicity with Mah Chow Wong in the celebrated
" Gold Dust Case; " where the latter culprit, with his
aid, deceived Mr. May into the surrender, into the
hands of aa false claimant, belonging to the Mah Chow
Wong, of the portions of the stolen property which
Mr. May's vigilance had recovered, and of which he
had taken custody, on behalf of the absent owner.†
I allude to the evidence of the Assistant Police
Magistrate, Mr. Mitchell, on the pending accusations
of Mr. May, J.P., against Mr. Caldwell and Mah
Chow Wong, in connection with the felonious removal
of tin slabs, belonging to Sic-Qua, of Canton, com
mitted at Hong Kong some years ago, and commonly
called the “ Tin Case .” | At the request of his
friends, the firm of Messrs. Gilman and Co. , Mr.
Mitchell acted, he says, in that matter for Sic-Qua,
and employed Mr. Caldwell, then Assistant Superin
tendent of Police, to aid in the recovery of the goods.
That firm was then represented by Mr. Hudson, now re
sident in England, as is his senior partner, Mr. Gilman,
* Minutes, pp. 47,52, 88, 95. And see the contemptuous terms,
in which this surrender is spoken of by the Imperialists, in the
papers printed in the Hong Kong Gazette, April, 1857 .
† Minutes, pp. 38, 45 .
Ibid , pp. 43, 56–78.
70
and able to give his evidence as to what was the cha
racter of the assistance so rendered . “ The impres
sion ,” according to Mr. Mitchell, “left on his mind ,
was one highly unfavourable to Mr. Caldwell, as to
want of honesty ."
I allude to the audacious but too successful at
tempts to defeat justice, of which, according to the
same two last-named justices of the peace , Mr.
Caldwell was guilty, so recently as the end of 1856,
and whilst still commanding the “Eaglet,"—in favour
of his partner, the same Mah Chow Wong ;—then
under charge of forcibly obstructing the police, with
intent to prevent, and with the effect of preventing,
the arrest of a Chinaman there present, on a well
founded charge of robbery. The robber escaped.
But, in the absence of Mr. May, Mah Chow Wong
was released, and the charge against him dismissed,
through the personal interference of Mr. Caldwell,
with a court uninformed of the circumstances.
And finally — not to multiply instances, for they are
many — I allude to the vindictive prosecution-quite
unsuccessful to convict, but quite successful to terrify
him into leaving the jurisdiction -- of Tongakii, the
best and most honest of all the Chinese interpreters,
employed in the public service - upon a false charge
of felony :-a prosecution ,, coincident in date * with
the conviction of Mah Chow Wong, promoted by the
gold -dust convict himself, and by Pang -poi.ying ( “ a
teacher from Government House ” ), and brought into
action, with Mr. Caldwell's aid , by the sudden arrest of
the man ; whose innocence was immediately after esta
blished to the satisfaction of a jury, and whose real
* See notice of Motion , by E. James, Esq. , M.P. Article 7 .
71
offence consisted in his having stood in the way of
his two accusers, in their attempts to procure their
pardons. For it was through his great local know
ledge, that all attempts, to throw discredit upon the
conviction of the first had been defeated! ; and it was
he, whose translation of the books and papers of the
other convict, Mah Chow Wong, had armed Mr.
May with the means of withstanding the shameless
efforts, in which Mr. Caldwell and his associated
Executive Councillors were then (October, 1858 )
engaged, to make out a plausible pretext for the
pardon of the last-named convict.
And yet, there is one incident, connected with Mah
Chow Wong, on which the Commission have come to
two findings of a most remarkable character — too re
markable, indeed, not to deserve to be noticed
together, and under one separate head, in the present
classification .
เ;
They say, that " they think it unnecessary to make
any other observation , regarding the charge [against
“ Mr. Caldwell], of audaciously denying, that the
“ books and papers of the pirate's Hong contained
any evidence of Mah Chow Wong's guilt, of having
“ deceived the Executive Council in the inquiry had,
“ relative to Mah Chow Wong ( ! ), and of being con
56 victed of falsehood by Mr. May - than that there is
no evidence of Mr. Caldwell having deceived the
• Executive Council.” From which, I presume, we are
to infer, that there is evidence of the truth of all the
other particulars contained in the recited charge ; as
to which, however, there is no finding at all ; “ further
observation ” being “ unnecessary ".
And yet, in the very next page, they say, they do
think it not “ unnecessary,” and, by way of continua
72
tion of this bungling and often contradictory " obser
servation ,” return to the subject, and “ state” as
follows :
66
“In the course of the Inquiry, it has come to our
knowledge, that, previous to the appointment of the
Commission, CERTAIN PAPERS, CONNECTED WITH -MAH
" Chow WonG'S TRIAL, AND WHICH MIGIT HAVE BEEN
OF SERVICE TO THE COMMISSION, HAVE BEEN DE
66
STROYED . ' 2
It is true, that they absurdly add -- for they had 2
only the guilty party's word , for the palliation of that
gross outrage on the public records of the Supreme
Court and Superintendency of Police, -and, above all,
on the course of public justice,—that ;
“ It has been CLEARLY PROVED , that their destruc
" tion was ordered solely because they [occupying
" in all the space of a cubic foot] encumbered the
“ Chinese Secretary's office ;"*** -- [ to which, not being a
Colonial office at all, they did not, in any way, belong ;
being there merely on the Plenipotentiary's request,
as will be presently seen , to have the loan of them
from their proper departments above mentioned, for
a66 special purpose and for a limited period] ; “ while
“ it appeared that they were then of no value, and
- could not be required .”
But, as upon the subsequent trial of the Queen
v. Tarrant, the Chairman of the Commission, after
having heard the cross -examination, upon oath, of
both the persons, upon whose evidence the above
apology was received by the Commission, did hiinself
declare, upon his own cross-examination, that, as
compared with their former unsworn testimony, their
* Compare Mr. Mongan's evidence in the Queen v. Tarrant, as to
the volume of these documents,
73
latter and sworn testimony really amounted to " new
evidence ” on this point, -- it would be unfair in me to
criticise further this awry excuse, offered in good
nature, and upon an erroneous belief, -- produced by
direct mis-statement-of an utterly inexcusable crime.
I shall, therefore rejecting this superadded matter
--confine myself to the “ observation” and “ state
ment ” which together form , in fact, one substantial
finding."
..And I proceed to do so under the next following
head .
AM
THE CASE OF THE QUEEN v. WILLIAM
TARRANT , FOR SEDITIOUS LIBEL ; TRIED
AT THE NOVEMBER SESSIONS OF THE
HONG KONG SUPREME COURT, 1858 .
Mau Chow Wong had been charged before the Police
Court, in July, 1857, on two informations, for piracy,
and confederating with pirates.
The sitting magistrate was, in the first instance,
Mr. May, J.P., and afterwards Mr. Davies, the chief
magistrate ; an order to that effect having been ob
tained by Mr. Caldwell, J.P. , through his influence
> ܙ
with Dr. Bridges.
If the chief magistrate was selected, because—a new
arrival in the colony-he was likely to know but little
of the pirate's history, there was, in the two cases be
fore him , inore than enough to make him very con
74
versant with the main incidents in that history, long
before he found hiinself in a position to commit both
cases for trial in the Supreme Court.
But Mr. Davies has publicly acknowledged, that, but
for the skill, patience, and zeal displayed by Mr. May,
from the outset of the case to the end, complete justice
would not in all probability have been done .
For Mr. Caldwell, J.P., instead of lending his ser
vices, as a detective,* to the Government, did his best
to defeat the prosecution. It was he who found bail
for the prisoner—and his own servant, one Sze-Kai,
but recently out of a debtor's prison, was recommended
by him to be Mah Chow Wong's responsible bailsman ,
and on that recommendation, accepted -- a fact found
by the Commission.t It was by him that Mah Chow
Wong's witnesses were marshalled. It was he who
procured his own attorney to appear for the culprit,
instructed him , and assisted him at consultations. It
was by him , in fine, sitting on the bench as justice of
the peace, that attempts were made, at an early stage
of the first case, to prime the chief magistrate with
thoughts favourable to the prisoner ; until Mr. Davies
found it necessary to remind him , that the alleged
Chinese affinity with that prisoner, through his ( Mr.
Caldwell's ) former concubine, Awoon, made it highly
indelicate to be there sitting on the bench at all, whilst
Chinamen were amongst the spectators, and, on the
same ground, caused him to be warned to stay away
from that bench during the subsequent examinations.
The books and papers of the pirate had been seized
in his Hong: They contained numerous entries, of
Mr. Caldwell's participation in the secret business and
profits of the pirate. There were entries of moneys
* Ordinance of 1857. # Report, p. 2.
75
received from him -- of moneys paid or payable to him
--- of arms, stinkpots, and munitions of piracy, supplied
by, or through, him - of his connection, as agent or
manager of the ' Sun -on -Wo ,' or House of the Sun-on
people at Hong Kong, (the gang of Mah Chow Wong)
—of communications with the Chinese enemy on the
opposite shore, at a time when rewards for Barbarian
heads were the subject of every proclamation - of deal.
ings with gambling-houses at Hong Kong -- of ad
ministration of Mah Chow Wong's estate of Tsim
char-chew already mentioned, on the other shore, the
rightful inheritance of the Tung family, - and of the
transactions of the now confessed partnership in the
lorchas. At a preliminary examination, some of these
items were read out openly in a crowded police court.
Mr. Caldwell knew he could not but have known
the existence of these dishonouring entries. But he
made no sign of knowledge. He continued, after as be
fore, and even to the last, openly to befriend the pirate
whose hand had recorded those entries to his discredit ;
he tried to prevent a committal, and he failed ; he
tried to prevent a conviction in the Supreme Court,
and he failed ; he tried to strip that conviction of all
its fruit, and , but for Mr. May, the Superintendent of
Police, and Mr. Dixson , the Government Printer, he
would have succeeded . As it happened, however , even
that hopeful attempt failed also ; and it has since failed
so often as renewed, the facts being too strong and
notorious ;-until at length, after more than a year's
expectation, the confederates have been compelled to
send forth Mah Chow Wong to his place of transporta
tion . He was sentenced in the first week of September,
1857. He was not sent away from Hong Kong,, until
the end of November, 1858.
76
The pretext, on which both Dr. Bridges and Mr.
Caldwell wished the Executive Council to grant the
pardon and release of the miscreant, was, that the
evidence, on which the conviction was, to their minds,
and to those of Mr. Day (the prisoner's counsel, who
was afterwards appointed to be my successor) , and
of Mr. Stace, the prisoners and Mr. Caldwell's
attorney, not satisfactory.
But, even assuming their pretended doubts to be
well founded, there was still another information
against him for aа fresh piracy, and on much stronger
evidence, outstanding against him. Sir John Bow
ring, in the Legislative Council, on the 10th May,
1858, indeed, hastily declared, that he had ordered a
nolle prosequi upon the latter information ;* an arbi
trary and illegal interference with justice, which it
would be hard to charge against His Excellency, upon
such slender ground as his own unsupported asser
tion ;-opposed, as that assertion is, to the evidence of
his Acting Attorney General and his Acting Colonial
Secretary, and to the probabilities of the case .
That it was determined, however, to release Mah
Chow Wong, even pending that second information,
because of the pretended want of evidence against him
to support the first, there can be no doubt whatever .
For it is now admitted by Dr. Bridges himself, and
upon oath .
And I will now narrate the steps by which that
result was to be arrived at.
The pirate's books and papers had been considered,
by the Supreme Court, the principal evidence against
himn.
It was now resolved to rest his claiın of pardon
* Minutes, etc., pp. 49, 88.
77
upon the bold denial, of their containing any evidence
whatever of his guilt ; and the “ scientific" evidence
of Mr. Caldwell - competent enough in the colloquial
dialect, but hardly able to read the Chinese character
-was vouched in proof of that assertion .
Access had been allowed him to all the books and
papers at the Police Office, and, apparently, at the
Supreme Court ;-and, by a more criminal indulgence
an order was made for the delivery to the “ convict's
friends," of the residue, which had been left at the
Central Police Station ; and this order was presented
by Mr. Caldwell himself, as the “ friend” of the con
vict ; and it was executed in his favour.
But a very simple circumstance had occurred, which
seriously hindered the working of the scheme. Mr.
Dixson, the Government printer — from of old steady
66
and vigilant in his distrust ofthe connection" between
Mr. Caldwell and Mah Chow Wong*—had heard with
surprise of the intention to pardon the convict, and
let him loose again upon the community.
To defeat this design, he printed in his newspapert
an analysis of so much of the contents of the books
and papers as convicted Mah Chow Wong and also,
but with hesitation , some of those which did the same
for Mr. Caldwell .
Mr. Dixson was invited to attend the Executive
Council, and give in the authority for his version.
Mr. Dixson did attend ; and, after being browbeaten
by the Government, he says, as if — not Mah Chow
Wong, but— " he himself was on his trial,” did, with
Mr. May's permission, vouch Mr. May and the “ Two
1
Memoranda,” which , with Tong Akii's help, he had
* Minutes , pp . 6-9 .
† The China Mail, 17th Sept. , 1857 .
78
compiled from those documents. Mr. May, who was
also present, produced and verified those “ Memo
randa," and they were read aloud by the clerk.
Their contents being to the effect above stated,
the reading excited the greatest sensation in the
minds of all present. Nor was this sensation dimin
ished, when, at the Governor's instance, a private
report, negativing the existence of any suspicious
entries, or of any entries whatever, except a few
unimportant ones, was also produced and read.*
It is now admitted, that this report had been prepared
and presented by Mr. Caldwell himself — the party
under suspicion of practising deceit upon the Govern
ment ; — that the books and papers had actually been
referred to him for that purpose ; —that, although the
Acting Chinese Secretary, Mr. Mongan , had been
directed to " help " him , the chief part in the exami
nation had fallen the accused, and that the labour
of his assistant ad been " very cursory " ; — that all
a
these documents had meanwhile remained in the
custody of the Chinese clerks of the Plenipotentiary,
Sir John Bowring, with whom they had been lodged
by Dr. Bridges, on his obtaining the loan of them
from the magistracy, for the purposes of this pre
tended examination ; - and that there is no doubt
that, even before they reached Mr. Mongan's hands,
already an abstraction of documentary evidence - and
this for the express purpose of enabling Mah Chow
Wong to make out his fiction of a lack of evidence
and so entitle himself to a pardon , -- had taken place.
“ The council," says Mr. Dixson, an eye-witness,
* Evidence for the Crown in the Queen v. Tarrant ; November
Session , 1858.
79
was very suddenly broken up." Under all the cir
cumstances, and the more especially because strangers
were present, I can very well imagine it.
These facts becoining public, a show of zeal was
needed to quench the scandal .
A new reference was directed, but to Mr. Wade, this
time, the chief Chinese Secretary. Dr. Bridges
caused the papers - including Mr. May's “ Two
Memoranda"- to be submitted to that gentleman for
his opinion and report. Only he forgot to inform
him, that Mr. Mongan was of opinion that some of the
documents had been abstracted by the friends of
Mah Chow Wong, subsequently to the preparation of
those “ Memoranda" by Mr. May.
In Mr. Wade's possession these documents remained ,
down to his departure with Lord Elgin's mission to
the North of China. He left behind him, in the
Chinese Secretary's Office, the books and papers of