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On 26 July 1858 "Sent Achih to Macao today: sent $20 to Ayaou.” On 15 August "Modest request from Ayaou for $700 or at least $200 - 'no can' - “. Then on 16 September “I went to see Ayaou who came back from Macao the night before last. Demands $200.” Again on 19 September "Paid Ayaou $125: I understand this closes the connection. "For Hart, therefore, the best way to terminate the relationship peacefully and permanently must have been to give Ayaou a generous sum of money and this he did.
Hart's declarations concerning his separation from Ayaou also detail the arrangements made for their children. In Declaration 2 he states: "As all the children were born while Ayaou was being kept by me I decided to provide for them respectably and accordingly I made it part of the arrangement for separation that she should surrender her children to my Agent and she did so." This indicates that some serious discussion and negotiation must have taken place between Hart and Ayaou concerning the arrangements for their children after the separation. Hart seems to have made it a clear precondition that Ayaou gave up custody of the three children and surrendered them to his London agent. Ayaou complied. For her, life must have become much easier without the burden of bringing up three children alone, even with financial support from Hart. For Hart, on the other hand, it seems to have been the best possible arrangement at the time. It was at considerable expense that he made such arrangements for his three wards. We now know, for the first time, that Hart "settled a sum of six thousand pounds for their benefit which sum has long since been divided and distributed between them." Also in Declaration 1 he claims: “As they were all born while Ayaou was kept by me I decided to provide them respectably, and did so, rather than leave them to their fate in China." The details certainly support the commonly accepted viewpoint that "Hart treated his wards generously" (Little, 1975: Introduction) and "By the standards of the day such behaviour was generous in the extreme", as “many Westerners simply ignored and abandoned such children.” (Smith, Fairbank, Burner 1991: 363)
However, these details may also support the suggestion that there must have been some other reason for Hart to make such an expensive arrangement: "In the eyes of a later day, exiling three children from their native culture, even with the consent of their mother (who later married a Chinese), raises perplexing questions. But it was done with
81
On 26 July 1858 "Sent Achih to Macao today: sent $20 to Ayaou.” On 15 August "Modest request from Ayaou for $700 or at least $200 - 'no can' - “. Then on 16 September “I went to see Ayaou who came back from Macao the night before last. Demands $200.” Again on 19 September "Paid Ayaou $125: I understand this closes the connection. "For Hart, therefore, the best way to terminate the relationship peacefully and permanently must have been to give Ayaou a generous sum of money and this he did.
Hart's declarations concerning his separation from Ayaou also detail the arrangements made for their children. In Declaration 2 he states: "As all the children were born while Ayaou was being kept by me I decided to provide for them respectably and accordingly I made it part of the arrangement for separation that she should surrender her children to my Agent and she did so." This indicates that some serious discussion and negotiation must have taken place between Hart and Ayaou concerning the arrangements for their children after the separation. Hart seems to have made it a clear precondition that Ayaou gave up custody of the three children and surrendered them to his London agent. Ayaou complied. For her, life must have become much easier without the burden of bringing up three children alone, even with financial support from Hart. For Hart, on the other hand, it seems to have been the best possible arrangement at the time. It was at considerable expense that he made such arrangements for his three wards. We now know, for the first time, that Hart "settled a sum of six thousand pounds for their benefit which sum has long since been divided and distributed between them." Also in Declaration 1 he claims: “As they were all born while Ayaou was kept by me I decided to provide them respectably, and did so, rather than leave them to their fate in China." The details certainly support the commonly accepted viewpoint that "Hart treated his wards generously" (Little, 1975: Introduction) and "By the standards of the day such behaviour was generous in the extreme", as “many Westerners simply ignored and abandoned such children.” (Smith, Fairbank, Burner 1991: 363)
However, these details may also support the suggestion that there must have been some other reason for Hart to make such an expensive arrangement: "In the eyes of a later day, exiling three children from their native culture, even with the consent of their mother (who later married a Chinese), raises perplexing questions. But it was done with
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