Page 658
On page 4 you assume that the reason that the Hongkong Government "cancelled some of their banishment orders" was to avert a Boycott of British goods in Hongkong". This was not the proximate cause of the withdrawal of the banishment orders,— if indeed it was a cause at all, but there is no occasion to discuss that matter at present.
5. I concur in your hope that His Majesty's Government may find it in their power to bring strong pressure to bear upon the Chinese Government with a view to their supporting the Viceroy of Canton in his denunciation of the action of the Self Government Society, and with a view to the suppression of that organization, and the cessation of the unfriendly action adopted towards a British Firm who have shewn themselves most generous in an object which has the benefit of China in view. I am in complete accord with the views expressed on the last page of your letter, that the Central Government by fearing to grapple with such organizations, which set the constituted authorities at defiance, is embarking on a course which may not improbably hereafter lead to friction with Foreign powers, and to its own undoing.
6. The ineffectual nature of the course now being pursued appears to be again demonstrated by the decision of the Society to defer the promised settlement with you until they have settled their differences with the Portuguese Consul. As these differences may not improbably be accentuated in the future.
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The original text was heavily distorted likely due to OCR errors on a poor quality scan or non-standard fonts. The unintelligible parts at the beginning were not corrected as per rule 7, which states not to rephrase or rewrite unless absolutely necessary for correction. The rest of the document was corrected for spacing, spelling, and some minor reordering to form coherent sentences. The original page numbering was preserved as per rule 11.