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to be here, and then they would be better. But all these things cost money, and I think that al- together the colony has been most liberal in this respect, and I am quite sure that if it is neces- Isary they will be more liberal still. (Applause) The first thing is to provide for the health and safety of the garrison in the midst of an enormous foreign population, which may, perhaps,-God forbid at some future time, be at enmity with ourselves. (Hoar, hear). There are in this colony 160,000 Chinese, at present most obedient subjects. Suppose they were to rise against us; look at our one poor wretched regiment, and two batteries of Artillery, recollect what our position would be. No, no and laughter). The first requisite of every colony is to provide for the safety and health of its garrison. But gentlemen, we are doing so, and doing it faster than I thought we should, thanks to my friend the Governor. I must say I have always had his cordial assistance in all i endeavoured to do for the good of the colony-- for it is for the good of the colony. I am not speaking for the army; I am fellow citizen, we are all fellow citizens, and what is for the good of the army is good for the colony. (Applause). Certainly, I can say that in no place in which I have served, and I have been serving all my life,--have I received greater support than I have received here from the Executive Council, and from the community at large. You know we have had a little done here. You have seen a field day for the first time in your lives, and a little firld firing, and those things cannot be done without the help of the community. We have to get the police to get every sivilian out of the way, so that he may not be shot, and all that takes a great amount of trouble. In England there is a great deal of difficulty in arranging these matters. Here I have none, and I caunof tell the Governor, and the Executive Council, and everybody who has anything to do with these matters how much obliged I am to them for their assistance in this respect. (Applause). There is now nothing secret about the profes- sion of arms. We may make our fortifications, or do anything, and it is all na clear to anyone as the noonday, and you may depend upon it that the army which wins in future will be the army which does everything the most thorough- lyhour, hear)-everything all round and on the square
That is the only military observa- tion I shall make, because Wa are bafore all things. I hope, good follows; and I want every offloor in this garrison, and every private, to be
good fellow. (Applause). The army has always! baen a chivalrous profession, and you may depend upon it that it is never the army of any country. British or foreign, that creates a quarrel. We have the greatest kindness to re- member from our forsigu friends. My life was saved in Paris while returning from the Crimes by the kindness and hospitality I received there and the tender treatment I received in thair hospitals. (Applause). I was a cadet in Gar- many and I learned some of my first lessons there, and I have always been received with the greatest kindness by gentlemen of that great nation. (Renewed applause). And wherever I have been as a British officer, the first people who have been ready to receive me kindly have been the officers of foreign armies. Gentlemen, armies are necessary evils. We never cause quarrels ourselves; it is generally the civilians who do so, and we have to fight out their quarrels. We do not quarrel ourselves, and my greatest gratification here is that the regiment and the garrison generally will hold out the hand of good fellowship to avery foreign officer who arrives in this colony. (Applause.) Gentlemen, as I said before, ours is profession of chivalry, which owes its first duties to the ladies; in fact ladies were the origin of chivalry. (Renewed applause). I am doing a very unchivalrous thing in detaining you so long. I never make speeches, I never intended to have detained you more than two minutes, and I must apologise. I hope that we shall all pull well together in this cosmopolitan place, and that we shall all agree with our foreign friends. (Applause).
Colonel CRAWFORD-Mr. Chairman, Your! Excellency, ladies and gentlemon, I had intended this evening, as there are so many influential members of the community present, giving you! a short account of your own particular force, the Auxiliary Force, the Hongkong Volan- teers. (Applause.) But not only are the ladies anxious to dance, but the gentlemen are anxious to smoke. (Laughter and hear, hear.) I will therefore cut my romarks as short as possible? and only allude to one particular point as a mat- Itor of business. The Volunteers of this colony are of diverse occupations. We consist of bar- risters, solicitors, bankers, surveyors, merchants, in fact all sorts and conditions of men. We have as our motto the old Roman motto, which is a very sound one--the longer one lives: the more one sees the significance of it- that the way to preserve peace is to be prepared for war. (Hear, hear.) For this pur- pose we sacrifice some of our lawn tennis and our various amusements, and after spending from nine in the morning to five in the afternoon in an office, earning our bread by the sweat of our brow,
we fall in with a gun detachment to learn our duties as gunners. Our motto is simply this, "For heartha and homes." We recognise that wa are uot an aggressive fores, our object is purely defensive. I men- tion that for a certain reason. Our force at present consists of Englishmen and members who hail from Greater Britain (Hear, hear.) There is a large German and French element in this colony, but I am sorry to say we havO no representatives of those nations in our force. Woll, now, the object of the force being purely defensive, our motto being simply "For hearthe and hom s." I see no reason why these gentle. man should feel any difficulty in taking the oath of allegiance and joining the corps, simply for the protection of their own homes. (Applause.) We have lately had an increase of one and twen- ty good recruits, and I hope we shall have! some more from our German and French residents and other nationalities. (Applause.) The first duty of an artilleryman, and the last duty I may say in time of war. is to hit. We propose having our annual practice shortly at atation- ary and moving targets, and if you wish to judge of the efficiency of your corps you bad batter come and see us, and we can only assure you that if a foreign enemy comes to rob either your hong or your bank, as to dis- turb the peace in this colony, we will do our best to sink his ships and drive him from your shores. (Applause.) In the name of the Hongkong Vo- lunteers I beg to thank you for the cordial way in which you have druuk our health. (Applause.) The CHAIRMAN-Gentlemen, the French Ad- miral wishes to say a few words. (Cheers.)
Admiral RIEUNIER, who on rising was re- ceived with a round of cheers, thanked General Cameron for the kind remarks he had made, and went on to propose "Prosperity to the Colony of Hongkong" in a short speech in French. He said he was in China in the years 1858-60, and then visited Hongkong, and was surprised, on his retura, at its growth and progress. He had much pleasure in wishing the colony continued prosperity. (Loud applause).
The CHAIRMAN said that as His Excellency Admiral Rieunier had proposed the toast next on the list, he would now call upon His Excel- lency the Governor to second it.
HIS EXCELLENCY-Mr. Chairman and gen le- men, the French Admiral has really taken the wind out of my sails. I was going to propose the toast Prosperity to Hongkong," but Ad- miral Rieunier, with the impetuosity and gallan- try of his race, has rushed into the breach and proposed it himself. (Applanse). I am delight- ed for your sake that he has done so, for I am no longer called upon to make a long specck on the occasion. My gallant friend the French Ad- miral has said all I was going to say, and, more. over, the gentleman set down to respond to this toast is my hon. friend Mr. Jackson. (Loud cheers.) Now you all know that Mr. Jackson is the chosen representative of the Chamber of Commerce in the Colonial Legislature (cheers)- and we know that he is a very high and eminent}
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