Enclosure 6.
Hongkong, 4th May, 1891.
His Excellency, the Governor, Sir G. W. Des Voeux, K.C.M.G.
Sir,
With reference to our letter dated the 24th April, and to your Excellency's comments thereon, we beg to express our most sincere regret that anything which it contains should have caused you any pain or annoyance. We regret further that you should have interpreted certain passages as disrespectful and calculated to cast any imputations.
Permit us to earnestly assure you that our letter was not so intended, and with every respect due to your Excellency we are still of the opinion that the inferences drawn by you are scarcely deducible from our language, and we submit that our letter should not bear the interpretation put upon it by your Excellency.
There was nothing further from our thoughts than to be in any way disrespectful or in the least degree discourteous, and we now, individually and collectively, emphatically disclaim and absolutely disavow any such intention. Our sole object was to protect the interests of the ratepayers of Hongkong.
Your Excellency having taken exception to several of our expressions we beg to ask you to consider them in the sense you have read them as being withdrawn from our letter.
We have the honour to be, Sir, your Excellency's most obedient humble servants,
(Signed) P. Ryrie,
Ho Kai,
T. H. Whitehead.
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