CHAPTER XVII.
The Administration of Sir John Bowring.
April 13, 1854, to May 5, 1859.
uring the ten months of Sir G. Bonham's absence on furlough (1852 to 1853), while Major-General Jervois administered the government of the Colony, the affairs of the Superintendency of Trade were, as mentioned above, separately attended to by H.M. Consul of Canton who, for this purpose, temporarily resided at Government House, Hongkong. That Consul and Acting Chief-Superintendent of British Trade in China was Dr. Bowring.
He had previously gained for himself a measure of European renown and the verdict of public opinion was, to use the words of his own epigrammatic critique of Byron, that more could be said of his genius than of his character. Dr. Bowring's natural abilities were marked by great versatility but appeared to lack in depth. Starting in commercial life and having occupied several responsible posts on the Continent, he distinguished himself as a linguist, as a racy translator of foreign literature, as the author of promiscuous pamphlets on commerce, finance, and political economy, and as a member of numerous Literary Societies. So great was his literary and political reputation, that, when the Westminster Review was started (1824) to expound the doctrines of the so-called philosophical radicals, headed by Jeremy Bentham, and to advocate the views of the advanced liberal party, he was chosen as first editor and successfully held the office for many years in conjunction with H. Southern. During Earl Grey's Ministry, the Government also recognized his abilities and employed him repeatedly, first as Secretary to a Commission for investigating the public accounts, and
