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As it is, I shall be cleared you know; and nothing more will be said."
The chairman heard him in silence. Next day, those boastings received their proper reproof, in the appearance of the Report.
Still, there was the chance of concealing from the Imperial Government the extent of the disaster. But this demanded the suppression of the Evidence on which the Report was grounded.
The Report, therefore, appeared in due course, amongst the votes and proceedings published in the official journal,[1] but without a particle of the Evidence. In this shape, it was sent home to the Secretary of State, with the accompanying explanations of the censured officials.
After the departure of the mail, and not till then, the Evidence was suffered to appear; and, inasmuch, as by the order of the Legislative Council, and, in deed, by the routine of the procedure, the Evidence ought to have originally accompanied the Report, the latter was, on this occasion, republished, to accompany the Evidence.[2]
In the mean time, Dr. Bridges, and his few adherents in the colony, had openly boasted expressly their confidence, that by keeping back the Evidence and forwarding the Report alone, in the first instance, he (Dr. Bridges) would be able to obtain, through the influence of his friend at the Colonial office Arthur Blackwood,[3] a speedy decision of his case,
- ↑ Hong Kong Government Gazette, 5th June, 1858.
- ↑ Ib., 19th June, 1858.
- ↑ The pressure of colonial business compels a distribution of it among the clerks of the Colonial Office; and, to this gentleman, the business of the Hong Kong Government is said to be confided by the Secretaries of State. I disclaim all belief in Dr. Bridges's statement with regard to him. I only record it.
