involves the lives and property of British subjects. In 1870, after the outbreak at Tientsin the British Minister was instructed by the Secretary of State to apply for troops in case of need to the General at Hong Kong, and however desirable it may be to avoid a collision between Her Majesty's forces and the Chinese populace, still if such an application were now to be made by the Consul at Canton, I should think it my duty to afford assistance to the best of my ability.
The case has not yet arisen; but the letter which led me to write to you stated that the Viceroy was disclaiming responsibility, and implies that the Consul wished me to be prepared for an application from him. It implied, too, that His Excellency the Officer Administering the Government had nothing to urge against my affording assistance and he had shown in conversation with me previously that he quite concurred in my view of the case.
But besides the concurrence of His Excellency it would be necessary, as I informed the Consul, to have the concert of the Navy, so that if the troops should be called on to act they might have a secure base and the support of heavy guns. You inform me that you could not arrange for the conveyance of Troops to Canton, or for their accommodation when there, on board H. M. Ships; and it would therefore