CO129-128 - Public Offices & Others - 1867 — Page 608

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We are grieved that our fellow colonists as well as our- selves shall lose the advantages which your exalted personal character, and clear earnest sense of public duty have so long conferred upon this Government--a deprivation which they deplore as sincerely as we do; but our own loss is aggravated by the fact that we are viewing the withdrawal from amongst us of a fellow Scotsman, who, zealously and faithfully as he has supported and administered Imperial interests, has ever kept the chief place in his heart for the leal land which gave him birth.

We, the Scottish residents of Hongkong, thank you heartily, Sir, for the manner in which you have always used for our benefit, the interest belonging to your distin- guished station in the Colony. You have always caused us to look back with pride upon the good old stock from which we are sprung; and your example has taught us that the first duty of Her Majesty's subjects is to reflect lustre upon that part of her dominions more peculiarly their own.

In common with those around us, we are sorry that we are about to be deprived of that genial courtesy, and those social talents which have so largely contributed to the happiness of all your fellow residents, but it will be at the times and seasons when we are accus- tomed to celebrate together our common nationality as Scotsmen that we shall more particularly feel your ab. sence. It has been upon these occasions, so often brightened by your wit and fancy, that you have especially endeared yourself to us, and in remembrance of them, and of your stay amongst us, we venture to solicit your acceptance of the small testimonial with which we are about to present you. Though, but a humble, it is meant to be an earnest proof of the warm esteem and affection with which we regard you, and when, in after days, your eye may rest upon it, it may serve to remind you that the many years which we passed in this Colony, so honorably to yourself, and so beneficially to others, did not go altogether unap- preciated.

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So much for ourselves. Let us now turn the picture, and say how glad we are to congratulate you on your return to your native land, and how deeply gratified to find that you close a long and laborious career, not with- out hope but that, under the Divine blessing, you may yet recruit impaired health, and live years of usefulness in some more salubrious climate. Need we tell you, that you carry with you our heartfelt good wishes, and that we shall not forget to pray for your prosperity and happiness, nor for the prosperity and happiness of her, whose many feminine excellencies, and whose goodness of heart, tend, now that we are about to lose them, only to heighten the regret which we have endeavoured to express.

Your affectionate fellow Scotsmen and Colonists,

A. McG. Heaton,

J. McDouall,

G. Anderson,

G. Falconer,

N. R. Masson,

W. Kaye,

Alexander Rodger,

W. S. Riddell,

J. P. Duncanson,

C. Morland Kerr,

John Ivor Murray, M.D.

A. Harley,

G. Noble,

D. Welsh,

Andrew Smith, Jas. Urquhart, John Thomson,

Chas. Mackintosh, P. Ryrie,

John Fraser,

P. Macvicar,

F. Crichton, Holmes Granger,

H. Murray,

John Diach,

Peter G. Laurie,

B. Mackintosh,

A. McLeod,

Ewen Cameron,

Jas. Henderson, M.D.,

Robert Walker,

D. R. Crawford,

J. Melville Matson,

J. Fairbairn,

Geo. O. Scott,

Geo. Dods, M.D., R. Lyall,

Duncan Davidson, W. S. Adams, M.D., R. Cairns,

John S. Lapraik, George H. Heaton, A. R. Smith, R.A., D. Hean,

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