To His Excellency Admiral Sir William Dowell, K.C.B., Commander-in-Chief of Her Majesty's Naval Forces on the China Station. Sir,--During a recent critical period in the his tory of the British Empire in the East we, Her Majesty's subjects in this colony, and, we think we may say without too great presumption, all Her Majesty's anbjects in this part of the world, deemed themselves highly fortunate in having at the head of the Naval Forces of Great Britain in these soas an officer of such high standing, of each great experience, and of such distinguished ability as your. self. We believed, and not without good warrant, that in the event, happily started, of a contest wil any foreign foe, the honour of the British Flag would, in your hands, be preserved untarnished. Watching your movements with some not annatural degree of anxiety, we saw that the force under your command was quietly, promptly, energetically, prepar d for activo service, and so divided and so disposed that, if occasion had arisen, every ship would have been found where, whether for attack or for defence, it was most needed and most ezective. We saw, with no amsi degree of gratification, that, while charged with the weighty responsibility of safeguarding British inte. resta in general over the vast extent of waters within the limits of your command, you were not unmindful of our anxieties, or indifferent to our demands for special protection and assistance, You strengthened the hands of the local authorities to the utmost pos. sible extent, and gave us, perhaps, more than our fair share of your time and attention and of the material resources at your disposal.
Happily, the then impending context was, ag we have said, avorted. All danger has passed away. Our anxieties are of the past. But at the time they were very serious and very real, and wa would be very ungrateful if we allowed you, whose mere presence in command of the Flest did so much, at that time, to give as courage and confidence and to diminish our anxieties, to haul down your Bag and take leave of the East without availing ourselves of the opportunity to place ou record, for whatever it may be worth, our opinion of the distinguished sør- vices rendered by you during the last two years to the Crown and people of Great Britain, and to offer you our hearty thanks and our most grateful acknowledge- ments.
Your Excellency has a special claim to thanks and acknowledgments from British subjects in the East, for, distinguished as your services have been elsa- where, you have been peculiarly associated, during your long career, with this part of the world. Ass midshipman you were present when the British flag was first hoisted on this Island, then so barren and unpromising, now so wealthy and eo important. As Captain of the Barossa, you were present and assisted, taking no animportant part, in what was really the opening of Japan to the influences of European civi- lization. As Admiral you have added, we believe, another to the vast number of the possessions of the Crown scattored about throughout the world, and have laid the foundation of a settlement that in years to come may be, and we hope that it may be, as wealthy and as prosperons as this colony is now.
Your prolonged absences from Hongkong during the past two years, absences necessitated by the re quirements of the service, have deprived ne, to our extreme regret, of opportunities of cultivating your more intimate soquaintance and of offering to you whatever of social enjoyments the colony can afford, and now that the lessened responsibilities of command would have given you more leisure, more freedom to accept of our hospitalities, you are leaving us, and probably for ever. We congratulate you, of course, on the promotion that necessitates your leaving within the ordinary period of naval command, yet for our own sakes we regret it. In bidding you fareweli, wo thank you most heartily for your services rendered to your Queen and country in these waters, and espe- cially during the last two years. We wish you long if sound health, many opportunities of distinction in the service of the Crown, and all the honours and rewards you can desire.
We, the undersigned Members of the Community of other nationalities most heartily concur in the santi- ments above expressed by car Fellow Residents, Her Britannic Majesty's au jects, and in their congratula- tione and good wishes.
We have the honour to be,
Sir,
Your very obediant humble Servants. Hongkong, 6th November, 1885.
[Here follow signatures.]
Mr. Ryrie then handed over to Admiral Do- well the address, which was printed in gold on vel- į lum, and wasencased in acover handsomely bound in navy blue velvet with tasteful silver corners, and
| bearing the inscription in gold letters, "Present- {ed to H.E. Admiral Sir William Montagu Do.
well, K.C.B., 6th November, 1885.”
The Hon. P. RYBIE continued-Having read the address to our distinguished guest-and I should distinotly say he is that--I will say he is everything we could wish in an Admiral. He has enlisted our sympathies and admiration in every way. That he is now leaving us on pro-
motion to the highest rank perhaps but one that he can attain in the glorious service to which ho belongs, is certainly satisfactory in one way, but is to us a cause of regret. We are now assem- bled here to do him honour, and that that honour is well deserved I think that every onein this assem- bly will admit. (Cheers.) Ladies and gentlemen, I beg to propose the health of Sir William Mon- tagn Dowell. (Cheers.)
The Band struck up "Bule Britannia," in the chorus of which the assembly joined heartily, finishing up by according the Admiral musical honours, and one more round of enthusiastic cheers.
Admiral Sir W. M. DOWELL, who on ris- ing was received with prolonged cheers, asid Mr. Ryrie, Ladies and Gentlemen,-You will, I know, believe me when I say that I feel myself utterly incapable of adequately expressing my thanks and my high appreciation of the great and unexpected honour you have done me in thus complimenting me upon my humble services during the two years I have commanded Her Majesty's Naval Forces on this Station. (Cheers.) It has, sa yon may sup- pose, been a source of much gratification to me that in China, where I commenced my career 18 a midshipman, I should, after s lapse of forty-six years, finish it (at least as far as foreign service is concerned) as Commander-i in-Chief, and that I should here receive such a mark of the approbation of my fellow-coun- trymen. (Cheers.) I can assure you I bave watched the progress of this now important #olony with great interest, and have ob- served, almost with wonder, how the City of Victoria bas, at each of my separate visits to Chias, grown in beauty and prosperi- ty. (Cheers.) When contrasted with what it was as I first remember it, a barren rook the change is little short of marvellous (Renewed applause.) It has been my duty, as it has been my pleasure, to co-operate with His Excellency the Governor and the local authori- ties in all matters in which the Navy could be of service, and I wish to express my sense of the cordiality and courtesy I have invariably received from His Ercellency and also from all those with whom my duties have brought me in connection. (Applause.) I desire to take advantage of this opportunity to gay ■ few words in recognition of the great courtesy I have received from the officers command- ing the squadrons of those powers which joined us in the convention for providing for the protection of neutral interests st Treaty Ports during the late Franco-Chinese troubles. It fell to my lot, as a Vice-Admiral, to be the senior officer of the station, and the ready and cordial co-operation rendered by my colleagues, Admiral Davis of the United States Navy, Admiral Matsumura of the Japanese Navy, Com- modore Paschen of the German Nary, and Captain Accînni of the Italian Navy, on all o0- casions, merita my warmest acknowledgments. That the events which took place in the River Min in August last year-when the large popa- lation of the city of Foochow was in a state of such ferment and excitement that the mandarins had almost entirely lost all control-were, hap- pily, unattended by injury to either life or pro- porty in the Nantai Settlement, must in a great measure be attributed to the cool judgment of Admiral Davis, of the United States Navy, and Captain Powlett, of H. M. S. Champion, (loud cheers)-who were in charge of the men stationed off the settlement from the British and American squadrons. The crisis passed away, and it was a matter of
no
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